Telling The Story

One good National Murrow winner deserves another. On my last Telling the Story podcast, I interviewed WTVF-TV's Catherine Steward, who won a Large Market TV station National Edward R. Murrow award for Excellence in Sound. She gave an invaluable breakdown of her brilliant production, from her techniques when shooting video to her commitment to gathering audio. Her piece seemed like the pinnacle of a local TV news feature, rooted in traditional storytelling. My guest for this episode went a different route. She told a powerful story as well, but she did it with the foundations of documentary: a steady, slow pace; methodically deployed effects, and a soft bed of music. The piece is called "Recovering from Rehab" - a team-up with Reveal and the Center for Investigative Reporting - and its accompanying investigation became a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In my earlier post about lessons learned from this year's Murrow winners, here's how I described Merrion's piece: It’s just as effective, just as gripping, but