Make the Important Interesting: A Lost Art

The nine principles and seven yardsticks are an important part of today's journalism community. They are simple standards every good journalist is expected to follow. Many of our reporters follow this like a religion, and others disregard it altogether. Some of the rules seem to be followed more than others.

One of these is mentioned in both the principles and yardsticks. Make the important interesting and newsworthiness seem to come hand in hand. Is it important? Will it have a long lasting effect? A lot of journalists seem to ignore these rules of thumb when they report on cute kittens or a local lemonade stand.

A prime example of this can be found on WDRB, reporting on the Louisville Zoo's newest arrival, a baby hippo. This baby hippo doesn't change the lives of WDRB's audience. This baby hippo will not start a revolution to fix the economy. This baby hippo is just a baby hippo. It isn't important. It isn't newsworthy. They have made the interesting important, and not vice-versa.

Instead of reporting on the birth of a cute animal, WDRB could instead be focusing on the situation in Ferguson. It has been a month since Michael Brown has been murdered and no arrests have been made. They could be focusing on Obama's ISIS strategy. They need to make the important interesting.