I spent a little more time thinking about Monday’s post: “Storytelling and Serious News Stories“. I decided that the best way to illustrate my ideas would be to provide an example. I thought about rewriting an existing story but came up with a new idea, inspired by the front page of Nytimes.com.
Maybe the best way to make people care about the news is to market it better, as if its a product/service rather than a source of information. We may have the average American why he/she should care about the news, the same way the late Billy Mays convinced many people they need OxiClean.
The first story I clicked was “Pakistan Objects to U.S. Expansion in Afghan War“. Below is the first paragraph of the story, which I “translated” for a general audience. I don’t mean to oversimplify the issue here, but I want to show what I mean by marketing the news. We need to give people a reason to care!
(Pictured at left: Why you should care bear, by johntrainor)
Original Text: “Pakistan is objecting to expanded American combat operations in neighboring Afghanistan, creating new fissures in the alliance with Washington at a critical juncture when thousands of new American forces are arriving in the region.”
Translation: Pakistan wants to keep American forces out of Afghanistan. Because Pakistan and America are friends, this disagreement is causing tension.
Why News Matters: Do you know anyone in the Marines? This conflict could affect who gets sent to Afghanistan to fight and who gets sent home. If America grants Pakistan’s wishes, less Americans will be fighting overseas. If we piss off Pakistan enough, “terrorists” may turn on American troops and start a conflict. This could potentially launch a new war.
One problem with this is that no one can really predict what will make someone care. As an American, I can guess. However, my friend Mark wrote, via Facebook chat, “People have such cognitive dissonance it’s hard to tell what would make them care.” But what if we could make a few people care? Could that save news industry?
