NPR Public Editor by Poynter's Kelly McBride

Great journalism is more than turning up compelling information. It’s also about how the story is told. Over time, we’ve noticed that sometimes, when an NPR news story falls short, it’s because the story itself was a poor match for the format.

And conversely, when a news story soars, some of that success comes from pairing great narrative with the ideal story-telling format.

Most professional journalists work in newsrooms that reach their audiences through a dominant format. For NPR, that’s radio. For The New York Times, it’s written articles. CNN is a television broadcast network. That said, all news outlets have a range of options that go beyond the primary format. Some stories need video, photos, illustrations or graphics to make them complete. Still others benefit from an immersive, audio experience.

The classroom is a great place to test out the various formats available. Young journalists can try to experiment with a variety of mediums and get feedback on which works best, which doesn’t and why that is.

This practice helps journalists imagine the many ways they might tell stories and prepares them to work in professional newsrooms, which are often seeking new audiences. — Nicole Slaughter Graham

Illustration by Carlos Carmonamedina

Through the use of past NPR public editor newsletters and Poynter resources, we examine the topic at hand to provide you with real-time examples that you can use as a starting point for conversation in the classroom.

Though primarily audio, NPR has many mediums in which the network can tell stories: written form on the website, photo essays, and video. There’s also variation in how an audio story can be told thanks to the network’s newscasts, shows and podcasts.

One example of a story that shined in multiple formats is 'Alternate Realities,' a three-part series, from NPR’s Embedded podcast. The series, told by reporter Zach Mack, documents the impact of his father’s embrace of the world of conspiracy theories and how it affected his family. Mack reported on his family over the course of an entire year.

That reporting included many interviews with multiple family members, as well as with experts. This deeply reported story required a setup that allowed it to unfold over time. NPR chose a few formats to accomplish this. The story appeared on The Sunday Stories from Up First, where host Ayesha Rascoe gave the audience key details and then played an excerpt of the podcast before interviewing Mack. NPR released the first 26-minute episode of the three-part series, along with an accompanying text article written by Mack. NPR then released all three episodes of ‘Alternate Realities’ on Embedded.

There are times, however, when a story is a poor match for the format, which can be a cautionary tale.

Last year, the NPR Public Editor’s Office concluded that a 4-minute interview with the author of a 5,000-word New Yorker story on the trend of prisons and jails doing away with in-person visits in favor of video calls, fell short. The New Yorker story was wide-ranging and included the voices of spouses and children who can’t hug their loved one, and now must pay to use the technology for video visits.

After we received feedback from an audience member who believed the radio story was missing key context, we explored how and why NPR decided to attempt a short interview with the author.

We found that this long magazine story didn’t translate well into the short author interview for a radio segment (though we believed it could have with a few changes). Most importantly, not all of the compelling questions from the 20-minute interview made it into the edited segment. More concrete details from the story would have provided the listener with a better understanding of the original New Yorker piece and potentially prompted listeners to seek out the original story.

The Public Editor receives many questions about how journalistic decisions are made at NPR. We explore the importance of these topics in the wider journalism sphere and articulate why they're necessary in the classroom.

While many student journalists may intend to specialize in a particular format – such as documentary, podcasting, or long-form text – learning to think about stories with a platform-agnostic approach will strengthen their ability to see all stories, including in their preferred medium.

When a student journalist is early in the process of reporting out a story, here are some questions to explore:

What parts of this story are critical and in what format will they flourish?

Does this story have strong visual components?
Does this story have potential as a sound-heavy story?
Is there a large amount of data?

What information will the audience need to grasp the most important facts?

Does this story need data?
Does it need visuals? Sound? Video?
Does this story need a multimedia treatment?

How can I gain access to great material such as key people, records or archival files?

With the right amount of time, is that information accessible?
Do I need data or research?
What source or guide can help me understand the types of information that might be available?

What constrains me from telling this story in its most compelling format?

Am I working in a small newsroom with limited resources?
Am I expected to tell this story in a way that limits my options?
Do I or one of my colleagues have the capacity to come up with graphics to display data?
How can I compensate for shortcomings? For instance, can I describe images that I can’t use? Can I build visualizations to compliment my reporting?

Answering these questions will help a young reporter determine a reporting plan. Journalists often map out a list of key information, interviews and files they will need. Doing so helps them know when they are ready to start building their story and if the format that fits the story. When it's a mismatch, journalists have to find creative ways around the barriers.

NPR journalists do this all the time, describing certain visual scenes or creatively explaining numbers. Knowing early on that a work-around is necessary gives a storyteller room to imagine their solution to a problem.

When a journalist decides on a format, they’ll know they’ve chosen the right one if it successfully:

Includes enough detail to keep the audience interested
Tells the story in an easy-to-follow, digestible way
Highlights the most important findings and characters in the story
Captures the depth and nuance of the subject

Here, we offer a handout to get your students going.

One way student journalists can fine tune their ability to match a story to the platform is to analyze how different newsrooms have covered the same story. Young journalists can compare similar stories from different places to see what worked best, what worked well enough that the audience got the information, and what fell short. This analysis will help them make those determinations when planning out their own stories as well.

To kick off the lesson, consider starting with this handout. — Nicole Slaughter Graham

The Office of the Public Editor is a team. Reporters Amaris Castillo and Nicole Slaughter Graham and copy editor Merrill Perlman make this newsletter possible. Illustrations are by Carlos Carmonamedina. We are still reading all of your messages on Facebook, Instagram, Threads and from our inbox. As always, keep them coming.

Kelly McBride
NPR Public Editor
Chair, Craig Newmark Center for Ethics & Leadership at the Poynter Institute

Kelly McBride
Public Editor

Amaris Castillo
Poynter Institute

Nicole Slaughter Graham
Poynter Institute

The Public Editor stands as a source of independent accountability. Created by NPR's board of directors, the Public Editor serves as a bridge between the newsroom and the audience, striving to both listen to the audience's concerns and explain the newsroom's work and ambitions. The office ensures NPR remains steadfast in its mission to present fair, accurate and comprehensive information in service of democracy.

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