Let human interest articles rule

“It’s inspiring, a man at 58 going to marry a young girl,” he said. Happily married with two sons, Anant does not plan to follow suit, though. “I just feel new energy. He is 58. I’m 70. But I feel energetic enough to accomplish anything.” He ended the comment with a laugh. 

Boonchai’s news has not interested only Anant. On the day that this news broke, the story was the second most popular on www.nationmultimedia.com. You might be surprised that it was even more popular than stories on the latest developments in New York after Hurricane Sandy, or Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s brainstorming session with ministers and government units over key economic issues like Sandy’s aftermath and quantitative easing in the US, which boosted money inflows to Thailand in October and strengthened the Thai baht. Many consumers on the same day paid much more attention to the launch of “est” cola by Serm Suk.

Whenever I walk past a bookstore, it always amazes me to see most customers flipping through magazines, novels and “how to” books. (One notable exception is Chula Book Centre, where lots of students search for the best guides to examinations.) Few book-buyers are seen at the “Literature” section or academic sections. 

I usually walk straight to the fiction section. Fiction is extra reading aside from all the stuff I have to read online and offline on a daily basis at work. But in this age when electronic gadgets rule most of our waking time, I do find some games and apps more interesting than novels.

To journalists, Boonchai’s story is one of “human interest”, one that all newspapers must have to entice readers. On the day the engagement was announced, we had the usual “standard” news, but we also knew that Boonchai’s story was a “must-read”.

What are “human interest” articles?

They are feature stories that discuss a person or people in an emotional way. They present people and their problems, concerns or achievements in a way that brings about interest or sympathy among readers. Included in this category could be Somluck Kamsing as the first Thai athlete to win a gold medal at the Olympics, or the story about the elephant, in a South Korean zoo, that can imitate human speech. In Thailand in particular, human interest articles are mostly about something entertaining.

Because they will hook readers, human interest articles sometimes occupy a bigger space than the lead story. Being “soft news”, most human interest articles win more readers than hard news presented on the same day. What would you choose between news of a billionaire’s private life or news about melting ice in the Arctic. The answer is obvious. Few people want to read about disasters all the time. Only a few people in Thailand know that thousands in New Jersey and New York are still suffering from power outage, days after Sandy struck, and days before the US presidential election.

In my own view, human interest articles are articles featuring somebody that the general public wants to know about. Why do they want to know? Probably they want to learn about others just for the sake of “knowing”. Probably they want to add some spice to their breakfast and brighten up the new day. Probably they just want to forget their own problems. 

Somehow, the Boonchai story reminded me of what George Yeo, a former Singaporean politician who is now vice chairman of Kerry Group, said when he was in Bangkok recently. In his speech to members of the Asean business community, he advised leaders to leave behind regional disputes. Much of his speech, entitled “Asean in the New World Economy”, highlighted the fact that all existing conflicts are resolveable. If not now, they can be resolved tomorrow, he said, referring to regional territorial disputes that involve China and countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam.

But can we leave behind the fact that our “as usual” lifestyle is somehow causing natural disasters that are more frequent and more violent? Can we also leave behind the fact the rice price subsidy scheme is weakening the country’s fiscal strength and causing a burden to all Thais? Can we also leave behind the fact that our kids are too concerned with tangible achievement than intangible happiness? Happy with Thai athletes’ current achievements, are we sure we’ve done enough to support future athletes?

Some things can wait, but others can’t. Today, you may enjoy reading about the life of a billionaire. But such enjoyment will remain brief if we don’t confront some acute problems today.