Documentary Journalism

Hi FOlks,

The links I wanted to show today, before we ran out of time, are here. Check out the differences in approach.

Documentary Journalism:

In the first video, from CNN, “Girl poet takes on the Taliban with her pen”, we see the story of a girl, Tuba Sahaab, who fights the right for her education as the Taliban try to prevent her and other girls from attending school..

Narration guiding the viewer along into the story. The piece from The New York Times, below, also has narration, but the differences are clear: the first one pushes us into the story in a rapid style telling us what to think, taking the story at face-value, while the documentary–while guiding us with narration–feels more like an invitation into the story, taking us deeper into the emotions that circulate among the characters.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/17/pakistan.girl.poet/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

Of course the longer length of the film in the New York Times video helps when creating more depth. But these are the kinds of choices that online newspapers can offer–outside the corporate broadcast news model–allowing for the publication of a nearly 15 minute documentary that gets at the heart of what makes good documentary journalism: a character centered story of a man and his daughter standing up for their rights against the narrow spectrum of Taliban’s Islamic rule. This documentary is by Adam Ellick and Irfan Ashraf. It contains a great story structure that balances cinema verite style with a newsy narration approach that provides context for the political struggle occurring in Pakistan’s fertile Swat Valley.

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/02/22/world/asia/1194838044017/class-dismissed-in-swat-valley.html