Journalists as storytellers

One thing I noticed about most of the books we read this semester is that they tell wonderful stories about real people. As a journalist one must be ethical and truthful and present well balanced facts, but sometimes reporters forget what we do best. That is why I always try to start my articles with a good anecdote that I can use throughout my story.
For instance, this semester I had the privilege of interviewing survivors of horrible domestic violence and orphans living on the edge of an international border. Both of the stories I wrote went into the special issue of El Nuevo Sol, our school's Spanish language newspaper, of which I am one of the editors. Many of my sources thanked me for taking the time to listen to their stories, because they trusted me to retell them to the public, who might not be aware of the issues that affect them on a regular basis. And that is what I hope to achieve with every story I write, ahem, tell.

Here are a few examples of some solid storytelling in:

The Los Angeles Times
The New York Times
ColorLines magazine