Is the AP doing more long-form narrative? What’s the status of narrative there?
Rajkumar: The AP is often known for short and snappy, but in fact we have long had a team of national writers who do a lot of narrative work. In recent years, we have also been doing more of that kind of work on the international side. For example, Rukmini Callimachi, our West Africa bureau chief, was a Pulitzer finalist in 2009 in international reporting for a set of long-form investigative narratives about child trafficking in Africa. As fewer news outlets do international news, there is an opening for us to do a wide range of international stories, which certainly includes both investigative work and in-depth narratives, sometimes together. I believe the key for the AP is flexibility. We have so many different audiences across so many different formats, and we're in a great position to explore various ways of telling stories.
From an editing perspective, what worked particularly well with this piece and is there anything about it that you’d like to see more reporters try?
Rajkumar: There’s a lot I really like about this story: the pace, as I mentioned, the voice, the wonderful details, the plot, the compassion. Maybe most of all, I like it that we told a story in a distinctive way. I think reporters at the AP and elsewhere sometimes fall into the standard patterns, where we automatically structure a story around theme and exposition. I would love for more reporters to try other things: a different voice, a different central focus, a different format. And I would love for more editors to encourage them, to give them the permission to go out on a limb, as well as the reassurance that they’ll be caught if they fall.
