Reflecting the body politic, local TV news lost interest in the homeless decades ago. Instead, the homeless are used as props. When an Atlanta station needs to do a story about freezing temperatures, it’ll send a warm body to a homeless shelter. When it covers stories about panhandlers, the storyline is about how they’re nuisances to respectable folk, rather than the demons, bad luck and / or choices they made that drove them to the street.
The last serious TV story we can recall about the homeless was when Ron Sailor walked the streets with Andy Young dressed in homeless garb. Now comes Julie Wolfe (who was probably in grade school when the Sailor piece aired in 1987) with a two-parter on WXIA. This is not a piece the WXIA consultants would have suggested.
Wolfe approached it admirably: She spent 24 hours at a NW Atlanta shelter for women and children and watched the routine. It left her without any “wait til you see what we captured on camera!” teaseable moments. Instead, the story immersed the viewer in lives led in quiet desperation. The routine tended toward an effort to restore normalcy to lives that had nearly fallen apart — meals, games, job searches. On the surface, the storyline seems ill-suited to a medium drawn to the abnormal.
Alone in a darkened room: Julie Wolfe, WXIA
At a time when memorable moments define “great TV,” this wasn’t great TV But this was the essence of TV journalism. It helps that Wolfe, a backpack journalist, has a great eye with her camera viewfinder and a solid, understated writing style. Delivered in a casual first-person, part one drew the viewer to the women and children in the shelter and not to Wolfe. Wolfe showed her sleeping quarters, but never made the story about her. It might have livened up the story had she done so (it worked for Ron Sailor), but Wolfe’s instinct against it was inarguably solid.
more about “24 Hours in Eden – 11Alive.com | WXIA…“, posted with vodpod
Wolfe delivered a second piece focusing on the children staying in the shelter. This series probably made an impression on only a fraction of WXIA’s viewers, most of whom are likely among the millions inclined to tune out the problem of homelessness. It’s unlikely this story would have aired on any other Atlanta TV station.
But at a TV station that seems to prefer the real estate outside of the formulaic TV news box, this was good stuff, and long overdue. Grade: A
Posted by Jim on July 14, 2009 at 2:24 pm
My wife caught this before I did. She’s not a “tv” person, and it stopped her cold-she said it was the best thing she’s seen on Atlanta TV in a long time.
I’d have to agree. This was a keeper.
Posted by rptrcub on July 14, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Wow. WXIA seems to be the equivalent of NPR for local news.
Posted by Brett Martin on July 14, 2009 at 5:56 pm
great story…thanks for sharing
Posted by Dagmarlover on July 14, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Yeah….just like PBS….Pretty Boring Stuff!
Posted by Element on July 14, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Loved it.
Posted by Frank Booth on July 14, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Wow How fortunate she was to be able to do that piece
It really must be a mixed up place over at 11
It’s a sad shame local news can’t do more of those… (ever again)
Those were keepers
btw. Did reporter also shoot that?
Brilliant!
Posted by Jim on July 15, 2009 at 7:54 am
Frank,
Not sure, but she probably did, she shoots all of her own material.
Posted by Newman on July 15, 2009 at 11:34 am
Great story……do they often run such long packs in their morning show or is that a sweeps thing?
Posted by live apt fire on July 15, 2009 at 3:45 pm
WXIA runs some original special-project type pieces in its AM shows, then typically re-runs them in its evening newscasts. Based on her Twitter feed and her history, I’m gonna say Julie Wolfe shot and edited this piece her ownself.
Posted by Dan on July 15, 2009 at 1:51 pm
wow- great story. so well done.
Posted by mike daly on July 17, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Well shot…well told. It’s so hard to hear those without a voice and you lent them a hand Ms. Wolfe.
Posted by harry on July 17, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Excellent. Julie Wolfe once again shows why she is one of the best one woman bands around.
Posted by AtlBigEar on July 24, 2009 at 10:14 pm
You know it’s only boring news to the typical people who report news. In the same way that it’s only exciting news to the people who report news. Kudos to WXIA for listening to their viewers and giving the news they want AND need.