Hunting for Stories: Tell Us Yours
Every so often, our bosses at National Geographic ask us for new ideas for places to go and stories to tell. They want compelling narratives and memorable photos. They want us to help reveal a part of the world that rarely gets to be seen. And they want to know, in our pursuit of making people care about the world, what more we can share with our readers. “Where do you think is interesting?” they’ll say.
It’s a question equivalent to being handed a blank check, but not in money, in opportunity. And believe it or not, the opportunity isn’t really ours. Spencer and I love being on the road, but the real potential is in the stories we can bring to life. There are people in the rain forest you’ve never seen and cats on Africa’s savannas that may not be around forever. This year, starting in our May edition, it’ll be food. Most of us at National Geographic Magazine will be exploring the stories of food around the world—what we eat, the way we grow it, and how the innovators among us are planning for the future.
Which leads me to announce that this spring Spencer and I will be hitting the road again. From our desks in Washington, we have some ideas of where to go. But we could use your suggestions.
We want to hear stories about growth and innovation in your neighborhood. Tell us the stories of people with big ideas. When it comes to environment, energy, transportation, water, and food, we’re hoping to shine some light on people planning for the coming months and years. We’ll showcase some good ideas. For really great ones, we might send a reporting team—specifically those two goofy looking guys at the top of the page—to visit your community.
Leave us ideas in the comments, or tweet us @DanEnRoute and @Spono. It should be clear that yes, we’re taking our boss’ question and passing it along to you. Not to duck responsibility. Just so that next time they ask, we’ve got lots of good answers.
