Understand a story’s context first, then illustrate with an anecdote

A screenshot from The Atlantic's "Making It in America." Photo by Dean Kaufman

Adam Davidson of NPR’s Planet Money set out to look at the state of unskilled workers in America. Specifically, he wanted to focus on the loss of jobs for unskilled workers and the growing demand for skilled workers.

“This struck me as a very serious issue, it means that, for many Americans, the American dream is no longer a possibility,” Adam says. “I wanted to understand, from a business perspective, why it made sense to pay relatively high salaries to skilled workers, but not to pay relatively low salaries to unskilled workers.”

Adam explores the issue through Standard Motor Products, a 92-year-old, family-owned maker of replacement parts for car engines. The story became a 9,000-word article in The Atlantic, and a two-part segment for Planet Money.

For his Atlantic piece, he offers readers detailed information about workers. Of Madelyn “Maddie” Parlier, he writes:

“Maddie’s senior year started hopefully. She had finished most of her high-school requirements and was taking a few classes at nearby Tri-County Technical College. She planned to go to a four-year college after graduation, major in criminal justice, and become an animal-control officer. Around Christmas, she found out she was pregnant. She did finish school and, she’s proud to say, graduated with honors. “On my graduation, I was six months pregnant,” she says. “Six months.” The father and Maddie didn’t stay together after the birth, and Maddie couldn’t afford to pay for day care while she went to college, so she gave up on school and eventually got the best sort of job available to high-school graduates in the Greenville area: factory work.”

Adam Davidson

Today’s Tip: Don’t just shoot for the anecdote.

“Economists are often frustrated with us reporters because we’ll make a big deal about some single story without placing it in context,” Adam says. “I’ve always tried to understand the context deeply, and then find the anecdotal example that can illustrate the broader trends.”

The context Adam needed for this story was U.S. history.  In the past, people willing to work hard could improve their condition, but that changed in the last 30 years, he says. The story includes data to help readers understand the broader issue. For instance, he writes: “In the 10 years ending in 2009, factories shed workers so fast that they erased almost all the gains of the previous 70 years; roughly one out of every three manufacturing jobs—about 6 million in total—disappeared.”

Coming tomorrow: Details on how Adam narrowed his focus.