Nieman Storyboard - A project of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard » Abhinav Ramnarayan http://www.niemanstoryboard.org Breaking down story in every medium. A project of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:36:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 The Guardian essay on Hindu super-temples? It might be news to you (and me) http://www.niemanstoryboard.org/2009/11/09/the-guardian-essay-on-hindu-super-temples-it-might-be-news-to-you-and-me/ http://www.niemanstoryboard.org/2009/11/09/the-guardian-essay-on-hindu-super-temples-it-might-be-news-to-you-and-me/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:05:12 +0000 Andrea Pitzer http://niemanstoryboard.us/?p=963 The St. Petersburg Times’ Lane DeGregory once told me “One of the stupidest stories I ever did had the biggest response. It was an 'up all night' piece about what happens between midnight and 6:00 am. I had all these old ladies calling me up and saying, ‘I’m never up that late, and I didn’t know about any of this.’ It was so gratifying to take readers someplace.” Taking readers someplace they are unlikely or unable to go is a prime service narrative can provide. Witness these two nicely done but very different stories: [caption id="attachment_972" align="alignleft" width="101" caption="Abhinav Ramnarayan"]Abhinav Ramnarayan[/caption] Supermarket, superstores—why not a supertemple? “The Many Gods of Ilford,” a Guardian trend essay on multi-god Hindu temples in former recreation centers, touches on religion and tolerance while revealing that cockroaches can evoke nostalgia. A few useful posted comments about disability, caste, and monotheism add to Abhinav Ramnarayan’s original piece. Over at The Daily Beast, Tim Mohr’s “Did Punk Rock Tear Down the Wall?” looks at the East German '80s punk scene and recounts the career of Die Anderen (“the Others”), a band that straddled the East-West divide. What other keyhole views into history or a community have generated memorable narratives? We’d like to hear from you.]]> Talking about narrative journalism, The St. Petersburg Times’ Lane DeGregory once told me

“One of the stupidest stories I ever did had the biggest response. It was an ‘up all night’ piece about what happens between midnight and 6:00 am. I had all these old ladies calling me up and saying, ‘I’m never up that late, and I didn’t know about any of this.’ It was so gratifying to take readers someplace.”

Taking readers someplace they are unlikely or unable to go is a prime service narrative can provide. Witness these two nicely done but very different stories:

Abhinav Ramnarayan

Abhinav Ramnarayan

Supermarket, superstores—why not a supertemple? “The Many Gods of Ilford,” a Guardian trend essay on multi-god Hindu temples in former recreation centers, touches on religion and tolerance while revealing that cockroaches can evoke nostalgia. A few useful posted comments about disability, caste, and monotheism add to Abhinav Ramnarayan’s original piece.

Over at The Daily Beast, Tim Mohr’s “Did Punk Rock Tear Down the Wall?” looks at the East German ’80s punk scene and recounts the career of Die Anderen (“the Others”), a band that straddled the East-West divide.

What other keyhole views into history or a community have generated memorable narratives? We’d like to hear from you.

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