{"id":4204,"date":"2018-10-12T16:08:20","date_gmt":"2018-10-12T16:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/?p=4204"},"modified":"2018-10-14T12:14:11","modified_gmt":"2018-10-14T12:14:11","slug":"takeaways-from-story18-day-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/takeaways-from-story18-day-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Takeaways from #Story18: Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 8th edition of The Power of Storytelling focused on how good storytelling can change our perspective and our understanding of the world. In an era of disinformation, division, and distrust, all of us \u2013 journalists, artists, communicators, change makers of all kinds \u2013 can use better storytelling to rewrite existing narratives and craft a better, more inclusive and connected future.<\/p>\n<p>On the first day of our conference, the speakers often mentioned \u201ctruth\u201d, \u201cdivision\u201d, \u201cdisinformation\u201d and fighting our own biases, getting out of our comfort zone. Here are some of the main takeaways from day one:<\/p>\n<p><strong>JONAH SACHS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-4205\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3205-1024x684.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3205-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3205-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3205-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3205.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Marketing trailblazer Jonah Sachs, whose book Unsafe Thinking just got published in Romanian, spoke about taking risks and staying open to new ideas. He has three guidelines he sticks to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I have made a terrible mistake in making my company, because when someone wanted to get hired there, we chose someone who was like us. But spending too much time with people like you actually limits your creativity. Creativity is disruptive, it makes us feel uncomfortable, it threatens discipline. Beware of those who share your values.<\/li>\n<li>Being an expert makes you pretty stupid. In an ambiguous world, the more we believe we know, and ignore information that threatens us, the more blind we become. Pull yourself down off that pedestal.<\/li>\n<li>All the work I was doing to keep anxiety away, to keep things predictable, was a mistake. Anxiety can enhance creativity, up to a point.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>JENNIFER BRANDEL<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-4206\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3279-1024x684.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3279-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3279-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3279-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3279.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next on stage was Jennifer Brandel, CEO and founder of Hearken, a consulting tech company that helps newsrooms change their mindset and see their public as partners, not just as consumers. Jennifer talked about rewriting the power of journalists by involving the audience in editorial decision making. <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I call traditional newsrooms autocracies, because there\u2019s a small group of people who make decisions for a large group of people. Traditional journalism is distant from the public, is elevated, it looks at the public as an abstraction. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If citizens are the most important in a democracy, they need to get the information to do their work as citizens. The public has to be involved, they have to be able to tell journalists what they want to understand. This way, they can rewrite the news narrative.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;What do you not know that we could find out for you?&#8221; is the question Jennifer says journalists should ask their public.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;Curiosity is a renewable resource and it\u2019s always there for the newsrooms if they\u2019re willing to listen,&quot; says <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JenniferBrandel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JenniferBrandel<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/story18?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#story18<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/AnW7kM1usu\">pic.twitter.com\/AnW7kM1usu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Power of Story (@pofstorytelling) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pofstorytelling\/status\/1050660706863931392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 12, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>ANNE HULL<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-4207\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3345-1024x684.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3345-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3345-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3345-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3345.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A narrative journalism legend, Anne Hull shared how she covered some of her most intense stories, including the one about the Walter Reed hospital for wounded veterans that won her a Pulitzer, and what she learned from covering them:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Journalism is mostly a series of accidents &#8211; you happen to be somewhere, you happen to see something, you screw up sometimes.<\/li>\n<li>My guiding principles are &#8220;what do you want to know&#8221;, &#8220;what happens next?&#8221; and \u201cthink that you might be wrong\u201d.<\/li>\n<li>I tend to write about young people because I love their language and\u00a0in narrative you need movement. They are the epitome of movement.<\/li>\n<li>Much of this reporting is just hanging out, but there is no such thing as downtime. When it&#8217;s on, you have to be on.<\/li>\n<li>Who you choose to write your story about is really a comment. It has implications.<\/li>\n<li>Plan what you want to be present for &#8211; the intimate moments, the moments that are important for the movement of the\u00a0narrative.<\/li>\n<li>That\u2019s what you\u2019re there to witness: when the subjects&#8217; deficits put them at a disadvantage.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>ANDY MILLS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-4208\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3448-1024x684.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3448-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3448-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3448-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3448.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Andy Mills, audio producer at The New York Times, took the stage to talk about the need for journalists to fight the temptation to portray people as monsters, and instead be more curious about the most flawed of our world. He shared some of the lessons he learned while working on the Caliphate, a groundbreaking audio series about reporter Rukmini Callimachi\u2019s quest to understand the Islamic State.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Go and talk to people. Be open to the idea that what you&#8217;ll hear might be upsetting. It could be dangerous, but it&#8217;s worth it. We met with a former ISIS member, we sat down, asked questions, listened. We went in with an open mind and it paid out. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remain skeptical as a journalist. But know there\u2019s always more to a story, and that goes both ways.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use plot to show the complexity of someone\u2019s character.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I&#8217;m not saying it&#8217;s not important to focus on victims of atrocities, we should. But I think stories become more powerful when we lean into the messy, emotional, complicated aspect of covering the world&#8217;s worse offenders.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;Journalists need to fight the temptation to portray people as boogeymen. The story generally doesn\u2019t stop there,&quot; says <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndyMillsNYT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@AndyMillsNYT<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/story18?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#story18<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Power of Story (@pofstorytelling) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pofstorytelling\/status\/1050684741974970368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 12, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>ELLE REEVE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-4209\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/vlad-1024x682.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/vlad-1024x682.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/vlad-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/vlad-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/vlad.jpeg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">VICE News Tonight reporter Elle Reeve shared insights into her reporting on the white supremacist movement and the power and influence of the internet on the radicalization of marginal subcultures:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The world is a hall of mirrors and no one really knows what&#8217;s real and what&#8217;s fake.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I used to think the internet reflected society, now I think it shapes it. It gives space for people with mental illness to share their beliefs and convince other people to follow them.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Am I worried about humanizing them? I find that question strange, because they are human, they are not from outside our society, they are from inside our society and they reflect it, they reflect its cruelty.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>NINA BERMAN<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-4210\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3943-1024x684.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3943-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3943-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3943-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC3943.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Photographer and filmmaker Nina Berman talked about the process behind her latest book on sexual violence, An Autobiography of Miss Wish, and the relationship she developed with the protagonist, which she\u2019s known for over 25 years. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For better or worse she was not \u00a0a journalistic subject anymore, but a person in my life. I would help the best I could, I am an active participant in this story. Things are happening in the course of this story because I am actively involved. (&#8230;) But this is not a prescription for other storytellers, this is my story.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Me and Kim set about making this book together. There is nothing in this book that she didn\u2019t want. She is a collaborator. And this is the only way I would ever have approached this material. She is a protagonist, a co-narrator, a photo editor.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When we\u2019re talking about stories of addiction, violence, what we don\u2019t show is just as important as what we choose to show.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I encourage journalists working with people in different situations to ask them why do they want to tell their story. The consent is not a one time conversation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>VLAD MIXICH<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-4211\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC4010-1024x684.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC4010-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC4010-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC4010-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/GCC4010.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Health policy expert Vlad Mixich said that if The Power of Storytelling had a Grinch, he would be that Grinch. &#8220;I am not here to inspire you, to tell you a good story. I am here just trying to challenge you in the same way I was challenged and try to convince you to ask some questions together.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Here are his main takeaways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I have questions about truth, trust and the power of stories, their bright side and their dark side.<\/li>\n<li>Our lives are dominated by numbers, from the grades on our diploma, our partners\u2019 phone numbers, the size of our liver in case of a transplant. We like ranking and ordering this beautiful complexity called life. But this truly miraculous machine which is our brain is at the same time a very imperfect machine. It\u2019s wired in such a way that doesn\u2019t get numbers in a natural way.<\/li>\n<li>There is this pervasive illusion which our brain is a victim of: it is called truth illusion. Facts are not of prime importance because the context or the package matters more.<\/li>\n<li>Numbers are the ultimate argument, the truth. But is truth related to the source it comes from?<\/li>\n<li>Our brain has no natural relationship to truth. As long as something follows a logic, we tend to believe it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Photos by C\u0103t\u0103lin Georgescu and Vlad Cup\u0219a.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 8th edition of The Power of Storytelling focused on how good storytelling can change our perspective and our understanding of the world. In an era of disinformation, division, and distrust, all of us \u2013 journalists, artists, communicators, change makers of all kinds \u2013 can use better storytelling to rewrite existing narratives and craft a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/takeaways-from-story18-day-1\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Takeaways from #Story18: Day 1<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4217,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4204"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4204"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4229,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4204\/revisions\/4229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepowerofstorytelling.org\/edition-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}