Wednesday, December 8, 2004

STORM STORY: Earlier this week I questioned the extraordinary "About the Series" note that accompanied Julia Keller's compelling three-part series in the Chicago Tribune about a tornado that ripped apart town of Utica, Ill.

Well, prominent Tribune columnist (and blogger) Eric Zorn has responded to my musings with his own theory, and it make sense to me. In a nutshell, Zorn says the note allows Keller more freedom in her narrative. If notes like this are what it takes to get more gripping stories in the Tribune, then I'm all for it, and as a writer myself I was fascinated with the inside baseball the note provided, but on some level I think these kind of notes speak to the general mistrust of journalists these days. Reading the note was a little like seeing a "making of" featurette; fascinating on one level, but on another knowing too much of the process spoils a little of the magic.

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