By Seth Boyes,
Years ago, I used the phrase kinetic journalism to describe a key component of effective local reporting. My point back then was that community-level reporting requires journalists to apply their past experience in a practical way that benefits their readers each and every week, year after year.
Originally, I was just referring to my own need to wear swimming trunks the next time I covered a particular outdoor swimming event, since I’d mostly come away from that first year with photos of people’s backsides. But this week showed me in a less comical way that my own tidbit of newspaper philosophy does indeed hold water. You may have noticed some colorful maps elsewhere in this week’s edition, and those are maps I guarantee you no other news outlet has. I can say this, because they were made in house by yours truly.
To be clear, I’m not a tech wizard by any stretch. Rather, the maps came about thanks to a bit of knowledge I picked up during last year’s Iowa Better Newspaper Contest and Convention. Now, admittedly, I can get overly enthused about the shiny plaques the INA divvies out in Des Moines each year, but I know the real purpose behind the annual competition is to improve the quality of print journalism across the state. The awards banquet shows us what sorts of approaches are working among similarly sized papers, but the seminars are what give us the tools and know-how to make practical changes for the reader’s benefit.
So, when a reader reached out to the Decorah Leader the other day and asked if we planned to publish a breakdown of last week’s election results by precinct, I was pleasantly surprised to realize the right tool in the proverbial tool belt, and we could easily convey that data visually for our readers (and it’s here that I have to stop and say thank you to the folks at the Winneshiek County GIS Office for not only providing me with the mapping files of our local voting precincts, but for doing a bit of trouble shooting with me when the files weren’t initially recognized by the program I was using).
Now, there’s been a lot of election analysis over the last week or two. But we aren’t likely to see Winneshiek County’s stats displayed on any cable news shows — that’s why you have us.
They’re big picture.
We’re in your backyard.
As such, I’ve always felt the local newspaper is the one tasked with bringing you stories that can’t be found anywhere else — stories about your friends and neighbors. And in some ways, this week’s maps are just an extension of that idea.
I don’t know about you, dear reader, but I’m a visual learner, so seeing the numbers laid out in a spectrum of hues really helped put things in perspective for me in a way that looking rows and columns of numbers didn’t. And because I’m a geek, I also mapped out five of the contested partisan races that appeared on our county ballots just for fun — it really highlighted the contrast between voter preferences in Decorah and the cities elsewhere in Winneshiek County.
But, while I can tell you how the numbers in one area stacked up against those from another, I can’t necessarily tell you why they are what they are. That’s the kind of quandary many a news commentator has been trying to nail down out on a larger post-election scale for a bit now.
It’s also something that can seem divisive at first glance, but I see potential for the numbers to become a handhold toward unity and, like many worthwhile efforts, I’d imagine things may need to start small — at the local level.
You see, a large part of what makes it appealing to read about our friends and neighbors in a local newspaper is the simple fact that we know these people. And these voting statistics are part of that communal experience as well. They just don’t come with names and a faces like a news feature does, but they’re still useful, because the numbers aren’t just an indication of what might be written on people’s voter registration cards. They offer a pin-hole glimpse into how the experiences of people near us every day might differ from our own, and perhaps why each of us might feel the way we do about things – political or otherwise.
The talking heads on the major news channels might struggle to put their finger on why last week’s numbers look like they do for some time, but I say the local market stills has the advantage — we need only talk to our friends and neighbors.
I imagine a lot of us have been less than enthused to have those kinds of conversations the last few years, but I really do believe they can be fruitful if done well. And hopefully, the reporting in this week’s edition provides some helpful perspective to guide those kinds of conversations in a meaningful way.
Searching for understanding, rather than division.
Agree with Seth? Think he’s got it completely backwards or he’s missed the point entirely? Let your voice be heard. Letters to the editor may be emailed to editor@decorahleader.com or dropped off at 110 Washington St. Suite 4 in Decorah.
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