Telling The Story Matt Pearl

When I started this podcast nine years ago, I assumed at some point I would interview Greg Bledsoe. At the time he was the reigning two-time NPPA national Solo Video Journalist of the Year. He was one of the most talented photojournalists in the country AND one of the most talented writers in the country. →

Last spring, when so many of us were frightened and nervous at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the world of journalism and the world as a whole felt chaotic and upended, Reshma Kirpalani leaned in. She cold-emailed a hospital group in south Florida to see if she could obtain access to its COVID unit, through videos shot by its employees. She received that access and embarked on a half-hour documentary ... that ultimately turned into five half-hours of an episodic series. She convinced her bosses at the Miami Herald and its parent company, McClatchy, to enable her to focus entirely on this project.



And just as she was about to start putting it together, Kirpalani learned she had been laid off.



McClatchy decided to eliminate Kirpalani's video team. For Kirpalani, it meant the end of not only regular paychecks but also the documentary she had poured nine months into producing.



Or, at least, it would have meant the end ... if she hadn't fought to finish it.



Kirpalani convinced her bosses to let her stay on for three more months. In that time, she produced an unforgettable and necessary document of the early stages of the pandemic - and how those grueling weeks impacted the lives of the health care workers who couldn't avoid it. The project, titled "Inside the COVID Unit," can now be seen on miamiherald.com. And it's riveting.



I've watched - and produced - numerous stories on the pandemic, but few if any moved me like this series. It puts on full display the initial chaos of those early months, which weighs over every impossible decision faced by the health care workers profiled here. Kirpalani's commitment shows throughout. She captures moments that are equally brutal, frustrating, raw, and heartbreaking. She has an intuitive sense of narrative and context.



More importantly, she does it all with extraordinary empathy - the quality that most enables this series to stand out.



Kirpalani is my guest on Episode 85 of the Telling the Story podcast.



When I listened back to this interview, I immediately wanted to hoist my camera and tell a meaningful story. I'm in awe of storytellers like Kirpalani who embrace their work with such devotion. It's what I seek in my own stories, and it's what I appreciate in the journalists I admire most. →

I've done 83 episodes of the Telling the Story podcast and, in the process, interviewed nearly as many talented storytellers and journalists.



Episode 84 is different.



This time, I interviewed someone on the other side of the camera - someone who was the subject on an in-depth story I produced late last fall.



Her name is Emily Chan. She's the co-owner of JenChan's restaurant in Atlanta. I did a five-minute story about the restaurant last year, spotlighting hers to represent the challenges faced by so many in that industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. I spent six shoots in two weeks with Chan, and I was able to tell a compelling, all-encompassing story as a result.



Last month I learned the story had won an NPPA Best of Photojournalism award for Hard Video Essay. When I posted about it on Facebook, Chan responded with a lengthy comment that included the following sentences:

"This interview still haunts us...and not in a negative way; it simply captured our vulnerability - which is truly every small business owner's vulnerability during this past year. I went back and watched it last week and it was painful; it still is. We are still fighting week to week and we still see the light at the end of this tunnel. Thank you for sharing our story so thoughtfully and carefully."

We shouldn't need reminders of how our stories impact those we interview, but this was a big one. I decided it could be a subject of further exploration.



Chan is my guest on Episode 84 of the Telling the Story podcast. →

On his first day covering Twin Cities protests after the death of George Floyd, photographer Ed Ou briefly became the news.



Ou says he was set up with a group of journalists as curfew hit. He says state troopers fired tear gas, rubber bullets, and concussion grenades. Ou was hit in the head and received four stitches in the hospital.



That night, he still filed a report for NBC News.



And days later, after many journalists had left, Ou found a story unlike any I've seen from that time.



Earlier this month, NBC News released online Ou's half-hour documentary, "The Intersection: Fatherhood at the Heart of George Floyd Square." It's a beautiful work of journalism, and frankly, the less I say beforehand, the better. But it's embedded right here:







It's the latest gem in a spectacular career that has taken Ou to multiple continents and earned him national honors.



Ou is my guest on Episode 83 of the Telling the Story podcast. →

Quick confession: I honestly don't remember when I first heard about Lynsey Weatherspoon.



It might have been last spring, when one of her photos of the George Floyd protests in Atlanta went viral. It might have been in the fall, when she popped up taking portraits of major political candidates across Georgia.



I'm not sure how she came into my orbit, but I'm glad she did. I've been inspired ever since.



In this past year, Weatherspoon has documented some of the most important moments and people in Atlanta and America. She took what the Guardian called one of "the best photographs of 2020," and she contributed to some of the most esteemed media outlets in the country.



All the while, she has remained someone who in her words is "called upon to capture heritage and history in real time." The third word of her bio is the hashtag #queerblackgirl, and she makes sure to amplify voices of each of those communities. She operates with intention, both in her assignments and with the impact she looks to make on the world.



Weatherspoon is my guest on Episode 82 of the Telling the Story podcast. →

After conducting this interview - and then listening back to it - I felt fired up to go out and tell a story.



I wanted to pick up my camera, put on an N95, get in my car, and do something great.



That's the result of 45 minutes chatting with Tomas Hoppough.



He's a solo video journalist with Scripps National, but that hardly describes the variety and quality of his work. He travels roughly every other week, mostly alone, with mirrorless cameras and lenses and the goal of two longform stories per trip.



He succeeds in that goal, and then some. He produces docu-style pieces that are vivid in both characters and aesthetics.



Tomas is my guest on Episode 81 of the Telling the Story podcast.



In the podcast, I mention several of Tomas' stories. Check them out here:



Rising in Minneapolis: a powerful series of pieces with photojournalist Drew Snadecki in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd

Guns Down, Gloves Up: a half-hour special turned in less than two weeks after a powerful program in Virginia

→