Trusting other people with your story

One of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received is when a co-worker told me about an Instagram post and said something to the effect of, “I’m sure you can do a story on this.”

This was the post.

And this was the story:

It was a ton of fun to do, and it was great that my co-worker trusted me to convert a simple Instagram photo into a fully-formed radio piece journeying through a road trip and how our brains work.

Going the other direction, I recently came across information about a rally to raise awareness about the fentanyl crisis which was being organized by a mother who lost her daughter to an overdose. It sounded like a great radio piece, but I didn’t have the capacity to take it on. So I handed it off to another co-worker, and she hit the exact tone I had envisioned. No instruction, no overseeing, I just trusted her with the story and she pulled it off.

Working with a team in journalism, there’s a lot of trust that goes on. We pass off tips and ideas for other people to pursue, set up guests to be interviewed on-air by hosts, send audio files to be turned into web write-ups. There’s no better feeling than having someone execute your vision of what a story might be except, especially when they do it better than you might have.

And, of course, members of the public trust us with their stories, too. We often come into their lives at their most vulnerable moments, after suffering a loss or a tragedy or while on the steps of a court house. When I think about it, it’s amazing complete strangers will let us into their lives, share intimate details, and trust us to turn it into a story for all the world to hear and see. It’s a tremendous honour.