The New York Times’ “A Year at War” ─ A Visual and Narrative Story with Soulful Meaning

© 2010 Peter Free

 

23 September 2010

 

Staying connected with the few who carry this nation’s weight is often difficult ─ The New York Times has made it slightly easier

 

My friend, Sharr White, alerted me to The New York Times’ exquisitely crafted “A Year at War.”

 

It is an interactive combination of video, still photography, and narration documenting the experiences of the First Battalion, 87th Infantry, 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan.

 

Link

 

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/world/battalion.

html#/NYT/7

 

Old fashioned journalism, like this, is about what matters, not necessarily what sells

 

Journalism is critical to democracy’s success.  By emphasizing truth and publishing what is important, although not necessarily sensational or saleable, journalists become the conduit for the facts and impressions necessary to realistically-achieved national meanings.

 

“A Year at War” is a simple documentary look at the meaning of war.  Through the eyes of the people who fight and suffer it.  Via the lenses and words of the artists who record it.  Courtesy of the editors and producers who artfully package it.  Delivered by one of the world’s few remaining great newspapers.