Dance of the Narratives

In the olden days, writers worked with photographers at newspapers and magazines to produce stories. Some editors seemed to expect the photographers to simply illustrate the stories told by the writers. But the better ones devised a different process with a richer outcome.

They saw that the visual and editorial narratives worked together more like interlocking vines, snaking in and out to produce a product much greater than the sum of its parts.

When we got the mixture right, there was an interactive chain that moved, much like how musical notes flow with words in a song.

And that’s true for good story-telling in any form. 

The process becomes more complex when you move from the world of print into multimedia — radio, TV, and the movies. Now, the actual or mediated voices and images of people enter the space between you and your audience.

It’s easy to overdo it. Then the story becomes preachy or melodramatic like in a soap opera. Good editors know that in most cases, less is more. Just let the sounds and the pictures tell the story. Silences become magnified, which is useful on any level.

In the end, in any good story, what the teller leaves out, the listener will fill in.

LINKS:

• NATO caution on Ukraine risks emboldening Moscow (Financial Times)

• NATO allies offer security assurances for Ukraine on path to membership (Reuters)

• G7 to announce long-term Ukraine security package at NATO summit (BBC)

• ‘Like a jailhouse’: Afghans languish in US detention centres (Al Jazeera)

• Vermont flooding devastation captured in drone footage amid race to rescue dozens of stranded citizens (Independent)

• In Phoenix, Heat Becomes a Brutal Test of Endurance (NYT)

• FBI Director Wray faces grilling from House Republicans (NBC)

• Iowa Republicans advance 6-week abortion ban in special session (CNN)

• Few US adults support full abortion bans (AP)

• Louisiana Republicans are preparing to use the Supreme Court's decision overturning affirmative action in college education to argue for a total gutting of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Here's how. [HuffPost]

• Why can't we stop homelessness? 4 reasons why there's no end in sight (NPR)

• Wall St rallies as cooling inflation eases Fed rate hike fears (Reuters)

• Twitter was locked in a chaotic doom loop. Now it’s on the verge of collapse (Guardian)

• This CEO replaced 90% of support staff with an AI chatbot (CNN)

• ChatGPT’s Secretive San Francisco Offices Installing Nap Rooms, a Museum for Staffers (SF Standard)

• The AI revolution in health care is already here (WP)

• Google’s New Search Tool Could Eat the Internet Alive (Atlantic)

• Generative AI is ‘everything, everywhere, all at once’ in the enterprise, says Mastercard data leader (VentureBeat)

• Why generative AI will remain wildly dependent on India (Times of India)

• My A.I. Writing Robot (New Yorker)

• Eight Popular Misconceptions About Human Intelligence (Forbes)

• How AI’s astonishing productivity gains could help curb inflation (CNN)

• The death of the beer festival is jolting the craft brewing industry (Axios)

• Historic Anchor Brewing Co. in San Francisco to cease operations (NBC)

• She Steals Surfboards by the Seashore. She’s a Sea Otter. (NYT)

• Canada calls for halt to deep-sea mining amid fears of ecological devastation (Guardian)

• Deep-sea mining is a watery wild west (Financial Times)

• Here are all the positive environmental stories from 2023 so far (EuroNews)

• Bruce Springsteen turns back the clock—and stops it (Economist)

• Covid flipped the introvert-extrovert script. And I hate it. (WP)

• Bride Requiring All Bridesmaids To Get Matching Plastic Surgery For Wedding Day (The Onion)