For a time, I was distressed about the way journalism was heading. It seemed that it was devolving into 140 character or less infobits, or worse, into Fox News style talking points. But I've gained a glimmer of hope from a certain website, vbs.tv.
In the 1960s and 70s, a new form of Journalism emerged. In the stead of nut graphs or inverted pyramids, news stories would be structured as literary stories. Writers such as Thompson and Capote opted to write stories that would not only let readers know, but also help readers understand. To me, VBS takes this approach as well. In it's Vice Guide to Liberia (Warning:Graphic), VBS covers something which would be overlooked by most newspapers. It covers not a single event, but rather the horrible situation in Liberia, its past, and possible future. Personally, I found it not only more interesting than any traditional news-article, but also more informative. It gives back-story, it has human interest, and I finished watching the series not just feeling more informed, but feeling wiser than before I went into it. Television news has not once done that for me, nor has traditional print news.
Picture Screencapped from VBS.tv
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