{"id":2362,"date":"2022-12-09T13:00:05","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T13:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/12\/09\/powerful-journalism-empowers-people-to-action\/"},"modified":"2024-10-21T17:28:20","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T17:28:20","slug":"powerful-journalism-empowers-people-to-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/12\/09\/powerful-journalism-empowers-people-to-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Making good journalistic trouble, Part III: Stories of empowerment and action"},"content":{"rendered":"    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p><em>EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: In&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/stories\/reframing-narrative-stories-to-help-solve-societal-problems\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>making \u201cgood trouble\u201d through journalism<\/strong><\/a>, Paul A. Kramer of Vanderbilt University argues for seven approaches that create partnerships between writers and readers to address shared social problems: \u201cThe best narrative non-fiction writing on social problems \u2026 grapples with a particular social reality in order to question it, subject it to critical attention and convince readers that its existence and continuance is not inevitable.\u201d&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p><em>The third of the re-frames calls for activation: stories that demonstrate the power and possibilities of individual action. Additional approaches will be posted this week and next.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p><em>You can do something about this problem.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Activation is called for when readers think of something as a problem and may care about, but don\u2019t think anything that can be done. People may feel intimidated and overwhelmed by a problem\u2019s actual or perceived scale and complexity. They may not feel they have the knowledge, experience, skills and tools to solve it. They may be terrified into inaction by the issue\u2019s cataclysmic expressions and existential stakes. They may surrender their power to experts.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>Here the writer needs to shed light on viable, generative activity in order to thwart apathy or a sense of futility. This can mean going back and re-specifying the problem itself, its origins and manifestations, then profiling contemporary or historical attempts to push back that have brought hopeful or successful results. The goal is to reveal ways that a seemingly immovable problem has budged.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-spacer mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"block block-legacy-page-blocks legacy-page-blocks  \">\n\n    <h2 class=\"legacy-page-blocks-subhead\">Related Posts<\/h2>\n\n    <div class=\" legacy-page-blocks-text\">\n            <p><a href=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/stories\/reframing-narrative-stories-to-help-solve-societal-problems\/\">Introduction<\/a>:\u00a0Making good trouble<\/p>\n<p>I.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/12\/07\/exposing-social-problems-to-engage-readers\/\">Exposure<\/a>:\u00a0Highlighting overlooked problems<\/p>\n<p>II.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/12\/08\/immediacy-proximity-social-issues-journalism\/\">Urgency<\/a>:\u00a0Revealing the immediacy of problems<\/p>\n<p>III.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/12\/09\/powerful-journalism-empowers-people-to-action\/\">Activation<\/a>:\u00a0Challenging a sense of powerlessness<\/p>\n<p>IV.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/12\/12\/social-issues-journalism-cause-effect\/\">Re-specification<\/a>:\u00a0Reconsidering causes and effects of a problem<\/p>\n<p>V.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/12\/13\/social-issues-journalism-that-expands-perspective-and-empathy\/\">Solidarity<\/a>:\u00a0Standing with those affected<\/p>\n<p>VI.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/12\/14\/connecting-daily-life-to-social-justice-issues\/\">Responsibility<\/a>:\u00a0Connecting action to consequence<\/p>\n<p>VII.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/12\/15\/social-issues-journalism-values-perspective\/\">Value-switching<\/a>:\u00a0Considering different moral stances<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/12\/16\/social-issues-journalism-narrative-frames\/\">Conclusion<\/a>:\u00a0The gift of narrative nonfiction<\/p>\n\n    <\/div>\n\t\n<\/div>    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-spacer mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>Such pieces can zero in on an effective mobilizing techniques and ask how they work, who first figured them out, who took them up and why, and where they have succeeded. They also should explore known limitations and downsides. This might spur readers to implement and reinvent such techniques themselves. More broadly, such writing can rekindle readers\u2019 sense of their power and effectiveness.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>Activation writing can counter political loneliness. Readers may feel isolated in their beliefs and powerless because of that isolation. Introducing them to comrades and allies \u2014 even just textual ones \u2014 can help embolden readers, by making it easier for them to rediscover themselves as part of a larger community of the like-spirited.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-image mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"408\" src=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Screen-Shot-2022-12-06-at-6.23.51-PM-e1670379879964.png\" alt=\"Author and essayist Rebecca Solnit\" class=\"wp-image-9433\" style=\"width:200px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Screen-Shot-2022-12-06-at-6.23.51-PM-e1670379879964.png 400w, https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Screen-Shot-2022-12-06-at-6.23.51-PM-e1670379879964-294x300.png 294w, https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Screen-Shot-2022-12-06-at-6.23.51-PM-e1670379879964-40x40.png 40w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rebecca Solnit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>One striking example of writing that activates is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2017\/mar\/13\/protest-persist-hope-trump-activism-anti-nuclear-movement\">Rebecca Solnit\u2019s 2017 essay \u201cProtest and Persist,\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;in the Guardian. Published near the start of the Trump administration, it emphasizes the imperative of hope for social transformation, and the impossibility of knowing what prospects one\u2019s actions may ease or break open. Solnit suggests that history can provide inspiring maps, allowing readers to find resources, hope and courage in the past\u2019s unforeseeable zigzags, bank-shots and surprises:<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-quote mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>\u201cActions often ripple far beyond their immediate objective,\u201d she writes, \u201cand remembering this is reason to live by principle and act in hope that what you do matters, even when results are unlikely to be immediate or obvious\u2026\u201d Solnit reflects, \u201c\u2026I sometimes wonder when I\u2019m at a mass march like the Women\u2019s March\u2026 whether the reason it matters is because some unknown young person is going to find her purpose in life that will only be evident to the rest of us when she changes the world in 20 years, when she becomes a great liberator.\u201d<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>In one passage, Solnit takes readers on a century-spanning, global journey of inspiration and riffs: British suffragists\u2019 storm Parliament, inspiring Gandhi in South Africa, who adopts direct action tactics against South African segregation and then British imperial rule in India; that fires the imagination of Black freedom activists in the U.S., whose campaigns against Jim Crow help spark the transnational anti-apartheid movement. That these links weren\u2019t linear or predestined \u2014 that someone had to imagine, build and sustain them, often at tremendous cost \u2014 is part of what summons readers to their own possibilities.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>Some dangers here include exaggerating hopefulness, underplaying obstacles, heroizing those who take some kind of action or settling for the easiest solutions (often the most individualized and least disruptive) in the interests of persuading readers that something can be done. Writers can neglect deeper, structural causes and stress workable tactics at the expense of larger strategic questions.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>But these hazards in no ways prevent writers from successfully and responsibly energizing readers to join necessary struggles.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p><em>NEXT: Retracing the real roots of social problems<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>***<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p><em><strong>Paul A. Kramer&nbsp;<\/strong>is an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/history\/bio\/paul-kramer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">associate professor at Vanderbilt University<\/a>, where he teaches history and non-fiction writing. He is the author of several academic studies and essays that have been published by major news sites. His book, \u201cThe Blood of Government,\u201d has won several awards, including being named a finalist for the Philippines National Book Award in the social science category.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Vanderbilt professor argues for stories that help readers and affected people alike see that they can make a difference in the face of social ills<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"topics":[],"authors":[379],"issue":[],"class_list":["post-2362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essays-on-craft","authors-paul-a-kramer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Making good journalistic trouble, Part III: Stories of empowerment and action - 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