Heroes and villains, Christmas gone quiet and Danish corruption

Who’s the hero? Behind the scenes of my Homeless Project Scotland investigation 

Common storytelling wisdom says that, in every story, there should be clear heroes and villains; protagonists the readers can identify with, if flawed, and antagonists who get in their way. One of the ways The Bell is trying to do journalism differently is in our focus on narrative storytelling — coming from a previous gig at the BBC, learning this skill is an ongoing process (but a greatly enjoyable one).

But with some stories, there’s no obvious hero or villain. For November’s story about Homeless Project Scotland (HPS), I took a close look at the legal battles raging between the homeless charity and the council. It was a testing, exhausting piece to be honest — accusations between the two bodies are flying and I had to sift through each one. 

Going in, I had pretty strong suspicions about what was going on. A lot of behind the scenes chatter hadn’t painted HPS in a particularly flattering light. But my job isn’t just to accept that it’s raining, it’s to look outside myself. So I had to spend time with McInness and observe HPS’ work, to see if accusations from the council about time-wasting matched up.  

In a way, they did: I witnessed a legal machine that can churn out thousands of challenges to the council to get clients housed — the volume of these is putting strain on the local authority. But the situation was far from clear-cut. The overall impression I got was of different institutions trying to do their best under huge amounts of pressure. Everyone is motivated by their duty — but these duties sometimes are in conflict. There’s also egos and money involved. I’m staying with this story so more details on this aspect will emerge in time, I’m sure. But what emerged from my many visits to HPS, breakfast meetings with slick lawyers and chats with nervy council sources was: ambiguity. 

By that I mean, there was no clear baddie to attribute blame to. This made the article quite difficult to write. But, thanks to some helpful editing from Moya and lots of discussing with and moaning to Robbie, we ended up with a nuanced, empathetic piece that still asked tough questions of the parties involved. It seemed to go down well with readers. Comments were positive; readers understood that this situation is complex and pointing the finger at any one party isn’t going to help solve the problem of rough sleeping in Glasgow. 

That experience has got me thinking about mine and The Bell’s role in the news ecosystem of Greater Glasgow. The other day, my colleague said that one of the most valuable things we can do is ‘complexify’ a story — that is to add more depth, through time and reporting. It’s very rare that something is completely black and white. I’m struck by how Colin McInnes has been heralded in language that would befit the second coming in some local press — a total hero. 

This drive for nuance can annoy people. But I hope, for other readers, it builds trust that we’re pushing for some sort of ‘truth’, rather than easy answers. And, trust me, it’s usually not easy!

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