Read Paul Meyer’s piece, Two Dallas Morning News Reporters Take ‘A Novel’ Approach to Storytelling.
There’s much to talk about. During a time of chaos and downsizing in the newspaper industry, two writers for The Dallas Morning News proposed a creative approach to telling the story of a Mexican girl’s shame-filled journey across the Rio Grande into the United States. Paul Meyer, one of the reporters, was told not to expect a favorable response. “My editor, after seeing a draft of the proposal, was willing to lend public support but frankly didn’t think it had much of a chance of getting approved. These were difficult times.”
But as it turned out, the “difficult times” had the opposite effect. “What none of us counted on, however, was that this period of intense newspaper instability, like most great periods of institutional or cultural instability, would also generate a kind of creative energy and hunger. If the industry was failing, and failing fast, why not turn to new forms of storytelling, in print and in Web-based multimedia presentations, to attract new readers and rekindle the loyalty of old ones?
So let’s hear from you, the honored members of our literary tribe. Is a period of major downsizing in the newspaper industry the time to develop new, more creative forms of nonfiction storytelling? Speak Tribe.
