Critiquing NPR

some good and some not so good

NPR is getting into the video business.

Like everyone else.

Above, one of their stories.

The shooting is excellent (with the possible exception of that rather weird top of the head shot at 1:40, but let's allow for artistic license).

What is lacking in this piece is narration.

It is ostensibly about health insurance in America, and this guy doesn't have any. You get that at the end, but it takes an awful long time to get to the point, and by the time you do get there, I am not sure anyone is still watching. You have to want to watch this to figure out what it is all about. 

The viewer has to work to get the point, which does not work, at least not for me.

What this story craves is narration.

Who is this guy? Why do we care about him? What is the story here?

You would never hear this on NPR. A rambling report that was made of nothing but a bunch of soundbites strung together. You would never read this in The New York Times - a story that was absolutely nothing but quotes.  They all have narrative.

They have to.

Tell me a story!

This guy is not a storyteller, he's a locksmith.

I am sure he is great at fixing locks, but he is not great as a story teller.

It's not his job.

It's yours.

Don't leave it to him.

As Don Hewitt used to say: Tell Me A Story.

Don Hewitt never said, "find me a locksmith to tell me a story".

End of story.

And see how a clear narrative made it easy to follow?

Now, you do the same.

PS.

If you want a real shocker, take a look at the credits at the end of the piece.

It apparently took NPR 8 people to make this 3 minute piece.

All I can say is

Oy.