Multimedia journalism

Roanoke.com highlights alveolar soft part sarcoma in emotional multimedia package

When I left Roanoke.com, photographer Jeanna Duerscherl and reporter Rob Johnson were feverishly working on a story about Brooke Smith, a 21-year-old who was diagnosed with alveolar soft part sarcoma. “Letting go, letting God” is a compelling story for several reasons. Not only does she have a rare and incurable cancer, she has also battled depression and suicidal tendencies, and witnessed her father’s unexpected death as a teenager. This woman definitely has a story to tell.

What makes it even more fascinating from a journalists perspective is that the subject, Brooke, is friends with Jeanna, the photographer. I believe this is one of the toughest conflicts that a journalist encounters, when we are asked to do a job documenting a story without letting a personal relationship affect the work.

Jeanna dealt with this both while documenting the story, and editing it. Since Jeanna was so close to her subject, she had unlimited access in the hospital, at her work, and during her private moments. Brooke’s interview was so candid that Jeanna struggled while editing her videos. Does she use the extremely personal quotes if it furthers the story, even if Brooke may later regret saying it to a camera? How does she remain unbiased when she is so deeply invested in Brooke, her life, and this story?

I think Jeanna did a remarkable job recounting Brooke’s story in a professional manner. I know this because I worked a lot with her to dissect Brooke’s interview. We talked at length about how she wanted to portray the subject, the story and the message. Jeanna wrote a great vignette detailing the background about how she decided to tell Brooke’s story. I think Jeanna’s following statement is very powerful:

“Typically, journalists tend to avoid telling stories about people they know on a personal level. It’s complicated: Our job is to tell people’s stories – not become part of the story. And when we have closer, personal relationships with the people whose stories we’re telling, sometimes our stories intertwine. And sometimes it becomes impossible not to become part of their story. That’s why we explain our relationships to our readers.”

Spend some time with this package. Do you think Jeanna successfully separated herself from Brooke’s story? Have you ever experienced a similar situation at your organization? What did you do to overcome this obstacle?

Other posts that might interest you:

• Roanoke.com launches a virtual museum for the opening of the Taubman Museum of Art
• John Adkisson excels at visual storytelling
• Roanoke.com documents ultramarathon runner Rebecca Trittipoe on her 67-mile trek

© 1 December 2008 Innovative Interactivity (II).