A prison bill was passed, and everyone was writing about it — dates, people, facts…bland. The story became flat and overused.
How could someone, then, take that story and become a Pullitzer nominee from it?
Ted Conover was committed to finding a fresh angle. “What if I told the story from the perspective of corrections officers?”
He began by going to prisons and interviewing them, but found that his media access was limited, and decided to dive deeper. He decided to become a corrections officer.
By getting so close to his target, he made himself both the interviewer and the interviewee.
Not only could he ask questions, he could participate in the feelings of joy, sadness, surprise, disgust, etc. other people might be feeling.
John Bonini, a content marketer explained how this anecdote related to content.
Everyone creating content wants to find something new to write about and cover, but maybe it’s not something new. Maybe it’s more about finding a new way of looking at the same old stuff.
Maybe, a lack of perspective means that you haven’t participated, you’ve just observed.
I don’t think I’ll end up in a prison to tell a story, but the principle still applies…dare to find new angles, dare to participate.