Discover the True Story: Uncovering Diverse Communities
By Jewel Bush
The Courier, Houma, La.

St. Petersburg, Fla. Sept. 19 -- Journalists sometimes go to an assignment presuming to know the story, using information obtained during the interview to simply plug in the details.

Aly Colon of The Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., suggested that writers abandon this way of thinking.

In "Finding the Untold Stories: Real People, Real Sections, Real Ideas," a seminar at AASFE's 57th annual convention, Colon said, "We miss because we think we know the story or because we're listening more to ourselves than the people we are going out to talk to.

"Untold stories are real opportunities ... When we are willing to probe a little more, when we are willing to go beyond the surface and listen to what is being told to us and the story we have not heard before."

Colon showed three photographs and had participants draft leads about the heritage, age and vocation of each based on the image.

After some were read aloud, Colon disclosed the identity of the trio; his mother and two of his brothers.

The purpose of the writing exercise, he explained, is to show journalists that all observations are made without knowledge of a person, and to uncover the true story, writers must be prepared to move beyond appearances and delve deeper into the lives of their subjects.

To accomplish this, Colon said writers must use their senses as well as pay attention to details like a person's dress, attitude, dialect and native land.

And be specific, he added. A person is not Latin American but Puerto Rican.

To tap into under-covered communities and give voice to those who often elude the limelight because of race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation and/or class, Colon said, "Writers need to be out meeting people and getting to know the community, experiencing life, bumping into people."

"The Listening Post," a handout Colon distributed, offers the following tips:

• Find places where people are likely to stop and talk, mingle and share information about themselves: barbershops and beauty salons, grocery stores, community centers.
• Choose a variety of listening posts within a community to avoid becoming the pawn of factions or prominent sources.
• Learn all you can about the people and community you plan to visit before you get there.
• Do it off-deadline. Allow time for a leisurely visit.

"I encourage you, I challenge you to continue to look not for the Hispanic story not for the women story, not for the lesbian story, not for the midget story," Colon said.

"Look for the human story within that life experience because that's what makes things exciting for the sections you write about ... write about the personal, and you'll find the universal."

The Five W's of Journalism: from a diverse perspective, according to Aly Colon of The Poynter Institute: Who: Who's missing from the story?
What: What's the context for the story?
Where: Where can we go for more information?
When: When do we use racial or ethnic identification?
Why: Why are we including or excluding certain information?

Jewel Bush is a features writer for The Courier in Houma, La. and a 2003 AASFE convention fellow. She can be reached by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .