Personal stories, emotional reactions can bring policy reporting to wider audience

Provoking an emotional reaction and providing a clear call to action are ways to make policy stories more accessible to a wider audience, speakers said Friday, Feb. 28, at a National Press Club Journalism Institute event.

Speaking at a half-day training on how to report and write policy stories for the general public, former Politico, National Journal and McClatchy reporter and editor Andie Coller said if a story inspires an emotional reaction and shows how it can personally affect the reader or people close to them, they will be more likely to read it.

While it can be tricky for people to see how policy areas like taxes, trade and healthcare affect their everyday lives, it is incumbent on reporters to look beyond policy professionals in those areas and make their impacts real.

“These stories are on-ramps,” Coller said. “They show people your connection to a policy area and helps them understand why they want to read about something like the [United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement], for example.”

Too often, Coller said, stories about new policy changes do not include information on how regular citizens can get involved in shaping those policies. This is especially true at the federal level, she said, as there is a period between the announcement of a policy change and its implementation when public comment is sought through the Federal Register.

Helping people understand an issue and form their own opinion, then giving them avenues for further civic engagement, is a crucial way to get readers engaged and ensure they do not think policy announcements are done deals.

“Now, instead of being resigned, I’m engaged,” Coller said.

In some areas of policy reporting, putting in people’s real-world stories as opposed to relying on the opinions of Washington-based lobbyists and associations can be effective in giving articles a wider audience.

That is particularly apparent in the healthcare field, said Sarah Kliff, an investigative healthcare reporter for The New York Times. While personal stories may not be effective in some ways, for others, like the effects of a state deciding to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, it can be impactful.

It is important for reporters to be open-minded about conclusions from on-the-ground reporting too, as that can be disconnected from the policy fights in Washington.

“I think the best stories where you’re bringing people in is where you don’t know what the story is and you want them to tell you,” Kliff said.

Government and non-government data can help too, said Ben Wieder, a data reporter for McClatchy. Looking past the raw numbers can be a good way to find trends that may not otherwise be apparent, he said.

While it can be tricky to bring policy-heavy stories to a wider audience, Coller said it is vital to democracy and helping more people understand why and how decisions affect them.

“If people are going to be able to part in their government in any meaningful way, they need to know what it does and what that means,” Coller said.