Appeal to human interest

by R.S.Karunaratne

How to develop an appeal to human interest in journalistic writing is of academic interest for those following courses in journalism at universities and other institutes. However, senior scribes know the value of human interest stories more than anybody else.

People read news and features every day in various newspapers. They come to know what is happening in their own country and in foreign countries. Sometimes when you read news about killings, robberies, burglaries, lootings, rape and other criminal activities, you might wonder whether this world is a safe place to live. Most of the news items appearing in newspapers are distressing.

In other to give the reader at least a temporary relief, human interest stories are used in newspapers. In certain countries human interest stories find their way into page one. Some editors are ever ready to accommodate a human interest story on page one even if they are forced to hold back an interesting and important news item.

When we refer to human interest stories we cannot forget Professor Edward Miller. Once he was giving a lecture to his students at Midland College. He explained how to develop an appeal to human interest in journalistic writing.

"Look at a cow. She is one of the most unrhythmic of animals. The horse is proud, sleek and graceful. The greyhound is a creature streamlined for speed. The fox is a flash of tawny beauty.

The cat is dainty with paw and has a body soft as velvet. But the cow is an unshapely lumbering monstrosity on four legs, awkward in every movement. She is the holiest scarecrow designed by nature!"

Gilbert Scott, a reporter from the Times, who happened to be there took down some notes on the back of an envelope. Then he rushed to his office and wrote a story about the unrhythmic cow. The editor who took a liking to the story splashed it on page one and boxed it for some more prominence.

The response it received from readers was unprecedented. Journalists from many parts of the world started commenting on it. Meanwhile a cartoon drew a freakish cow in various postures and published it. However, a naturalist objected to the Scott's story while many others praised him for his human interest angle.

The events took a different turn when a group of students collected a large number of newspaper clippings about the unrhythmic cow, got them bound in cowhide, and presented the book to Professor Edward Miller.

You will note that Scott's boxed story did not contain news. But the story appealed to human emotions. The story of the unrhythmic cow is one of the earliest attempts at writing human interest stories.

Although many English newspapers published in Sri Lanka do not carry human interest stories prominently on page one, some Sinhala newspapers devote a lot of space for such stories. Sometimes after reading the daily or weekly newspapers we remember only those funny stories that bring a smile to our lips.

Our sister paper daily News carries one full page of human interest stories on every Friday. i can still remember some funny stories that were published recently. In one instance, the zoo keepers push a donkey into a wolf's cage thinking that the latter would feed on the former.

To their utter surprise the donkey and the wolf become friends! In another story, forest rangers use crocodiles to scare away poachers of tigers. Similarly, we hear of a wife in China shaving her head to punish her errant husband. By the way, a man was arrested in the US State of Wisconsin for stealing 1,500 pairs of girls' shoes!

The human interest element was found in his explanation: "I like to smell them"! Although human interest stories are good for newspapers. There are many problems associated with them. Some young journalists try to invest human interest stories.

One such attempt was about a clergyman who left a note on the windshield of his car. The note said, "Forgive me for trespassing on this no-parking area." When he returned he found a parking ticket and a note that said, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesat's." Such human interest stories" lack authenticity.

What has to be remembered is that human interest stories should not be jokes. They are facts that give rise to humour. Sometimes an ingenious writer can create a human interest story by looking at what is happening in society. The best such human interest story was written by Dr. Riley Fernando who died a few years ago.

He was a much loved physician, poet and satirist.

He interested the following obituary in the Ceylon Daily News in April 1974 when the press was gagged by the government:

("The death occurred under tragic circumstances of D. E. M. O' Cracy, beloved husband of T. Ruth, loving father of L. I. Bertie, brother of Faith, Hope and Justitia, Interred on Saturday 20th instant. Araliya Medura, Panagiyawatte, Anduruwella." This was even published in the Reader's Digest magazine.)

It is a rewarding hobby to collect such human interest stories because you can enjoy them even after many years of publications. I feel it is a better hobby than watching the idiot box for many hours and becoming a couch potato!