Stories not always 'news,' but they can enhance it

"And this is a story, why?" writes a Web commenter following our report on a party at a Buffalo Grove home to watch last Friday night's presidential debate.

It's a fair question. I wish I could answer it.

The reasons certain events make news seem self-evident. Your town council raises your property taxes. One nation attacks another in an act of war. A car crash kills several people. Two political candidates explain their opposing positions on issues of public policy. Scientists find a cure for cancer. The Cubs and White Sox both make the playoffs in the same year.

But people going to a neighbor's house to watch a presidential debate on television?

Well, I say you never know when or where you're going to learn something about your society, your neighbors or yourself.

In this case, the premise seemed nearly ideal for us as we cast about for ways to show how the first presidential debate would play in the suburbs. A family passionately supporting one candidate invites neighbors who are equally passionate about the other to a debate-watching party. Here in one room we have both sides and we can watch how each reacts to the points the candidates make.

What we find, in the parlance of politics, is a lot more heat than light on the issues. The civil debate on television leads to a cacophony of claims and accusations in a Buffalo Grove living room. The arguing becomes so profuse that one guest who had found her way to this particular party through a candidate's Web site decides to head to a different location, one perhaps more sedate, without so much discord.

"Why did she leave?" asks a guest. "That's what makes the party great."

Is it what also provides the light in this story? That neighbors can unleash their opposing passions in a suburban living room and remain friends? That the two political candidates can stand before the nation to express their positions on foreign affairs and not really change anyone's mind?

It wasn't the story of the debate, of course. Our national report described the key points made by Barack Obama and John McCain. Those voters who hadn't seen the debates could get a sense of the main platforms of each candidates - and maybe even start their own follow-up debates at the breakfast table. And those voters who had seen the debates could revisit the highlights - and, yes, perhaps renew discussions from the night before. Would readers also want to see a group of neighbors bickering over the outcome? We thought it was worth a look.

Surely, we won't do it with every debate and may not try it again. But we do try with all special occasions to include something in the presentation that goes beyond the basics to supplement the offerings of the main story.

In a very different arena, we'll be doing much of the same thing as the Cubs and Sox make their way through the playoffs. Obviously we'll cover the games themselves and report the reflections of players, coaches and sundry experts of the game.

But we'll also talk to fans, non-fans, businesses, schools and anyone we can think of who can help us bring the story home to the suburbs. I don't doubt that sometimes the result may have some readers scratching their heads over how the description of such passions qualify as "news."

But we do hope that for many readers, such stories will qualify as interesting. Or engaging. Or maybe at times even enlightening. They won't change the news; but they may well enhance it.

Jim Slusher, jslusher@dailyherald.com, is an assistant managing editor with the Daily Herald.