The Heart of the Story

By Dick Weiss
Feb. 13, 2008

Some of the most well researched stories are also the most boring. Then there are the stories that give us a touch of humanity, but fail to tell us much that we don’t already know. Here are three stories that feature both solid reporting and human interest. Todd Jones of The Columbus Dispatch reveals how million dollar homes languish in the mid-Ohio real estate market while taking a toll on the psyches of their owners. Del Quentin Wilber shares some fascinating figures on airline traffic delays while describing how it affects the passenger in seat 19C. And a trio of Chicago Tribune reporters uses both their computers and a lot of shoe leather to describe how Chicago pols are collecting political contributions but also destroying the quality of life in city neighborhoods.

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3  A Million Reasons Why It Won't Sell
Todd Jones of The Columbus Dispatch
It may be hard to feel sorry for people who have trouble unloading their million dollar homes in a tough real estate market. But Todd Jones is talented enough to make you feel a pang of sympathy for a couple that has to keep reducing the price on their home while neutering it so that it will appeal to the broadest possible base of buyers. "It's hard not to take it personal," the would-be home seller sighs. Note how Jones starts his story by providing a strong sense of place and ... sorrow.

2  Delayed: The Soaring Toll
Del Quentin Wilber of The Washington Post
Wilber is an alchemist as he mixes facts, figures and angst into a compelling story. His portrait of Doug Pinkham languishing in seat 19C as his plane sits on the tarmac while his cell phone dies and his laptop battery expires is every traveler's nightmare. It sets us up for a long but compelling explanation for what has gone so wrong with airline traffic these days. Note here how Wilber goes beyond on-time performance to measure how flight delays drain the nation's businesses and its people.

1  How Cash, Clout Transform Chicago Neighborhoods
Dan Mihalopoulos, Robert Becker and Darnell Little of the Chicago Tribune
Mihalopoulos, Becker and Little did an incredible amount of number crunching to show how political contributions drive zoning decisions in dozens of Windy City neighborhoods. But the story starts in a whole different vein as it describes the plight of neighbors who live in the shadow - literally - of an 8,200 square foot mansion they call the French embassy. The reporting trio drives the story by giving readers a strong sense of place: "Anyone driving around town has seen how the face of Chicago has been transformed: Three-and four-story condo buildings dwarf century-old workman's cottages on quiet side streets. Mini-mansions cover entire lots, their facades sticking out like crooked teeth in an otherwise uniform line of houses. Blocks of condos rise on Fullerton, Belmont, Damen and Harlem Avenues, overlooking arteries choked by traffic gridlock..."

Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism