In the wake of my essay on reading time, I had the moving experience of reading another wonderful newspaper series by Tom Hallman of The Oregonian. The title was "Fighting for Life on Level 3," a chronicle of the life and death struggles of parents, their premature newborns, and the heroic nurses who care for them.
The series, accompanied by the dramatic photographs of Bruce Ely, appeared in four installments of equal length, beginning on Sunday, Sept. 21, and ending on Wednesday, Sept. 24. Just for fun, I timed my reading of the series and measured each installment at about 15 minutes — an hour for the whole thing.
Now this is a considerable amount of time to ask of readers. One could make the case that Tom and his editor Jack Hart were asking many readers to spend longer on this one story than they habitually do on the entire paper. Moreover, this is a story about nurses and tiny babies. There's drama, to be sure, but no news here. Was this just another in the list of "long, pointless" stories that
some critics say will be the death of newspapers?
Consider this reaction to the series, according to Jack Hart:
The response was terrific — 600 e-mails, calls, and letters. We saved a big batch of e-mails, which I find illuminating. Many of them express gratitude for the chance to experience the challenges these nurses face routinely and admiration for their unsung heroics. But a lot of them also are thankful for the focus on positive accomplishments by folks who aren't public figures. Most of them aren't aware of the craft we use to get them emotionally involved, but a surprisingly high percentage of them do mention tears.
Jack Hart and Tom Hallman may have established themselves as the most innovative editor/writer team in America, which is why journalists everywhere should pay close attention to their work.
For example, at a time when the practices of narrative journalism have come into question, Hallman and Hart offer a set of standards that could serve as a model. Consider this editor's note that accompanies each chapter:
How We Reported the Story
Tom Hallman spent nine months visiting Level 3, getting to know nurses, parents, and babies, and learning about the medical technology involved. He observed most of the scenes described in this story first-hand, and Bruce Ely was often there to record them with his camera.
On the few occasions when Hallman found it necessary to reconstruct events, they are clearly attributed to the memory of a direct participant.
No comment appears in direct quotes in this story unless Hallman heard it with his own ears. When he describes what nurses and parents were feeling or thinking as they performed their duties, he based his account on what they said in response to questions he asked during or immediately after the events depicted.
Every nurse, doctor, and parent who appears in this series gave permission to Tom Hallman or Bruce Ely to be present to record what they saw and heard.
This editor's note, signed by Jack Hart, covers all the bases. It says, to paraphrase:
We saw most of this. If we didn't see it, we tell you who did. If we didn't hear it, we don't put it in quotes. We don't read people's minds. We ask them what they were thinking immediately after the event. We didn't intrude on these terribly private moments. We asked permission. The stakeholders let us in. And guess what? You can't do this kind of work overnight. This one took us nine months.
Implicit in this work is an act of faith. That time in reporting, craft in execution, and length in the final product will not be spent in vain. The reward comes back to the newspaper and can be read in the opening of readers' minds and the shedding of readers' tears.
