Juhana Torkki’s “Tarinan valta” got me thinking: stories breathe better with tension. Good vs. bad. David vs. Goliath. According to Torkki: without a spark of friction, a narrative feel flat.
Also according to Torkki, it’s not just novels or films, news leans on contrast, too. Activists vs. fossil giants. Government vs. opposition. Champion vs. challenger. Facts land harder when they rub against something.
Binaries can also flatten. Protests turn into “good protesters vs. bad police.” Start-ups into “brave founder vs. ruthless incumbent”. Complexity gets shaved off.
Torkki argues that journalism sits in such a strange role. Journalism seeks truth, yet it decides whose voice leads. I think these questions are worth asking:
- Whose story is framed as credible?
- Who only shows up through a conflict?
- When someone’s the “villain,” is that about deeds or about power?
These days I read headlines slower. Not to dismantle everything, but to ask: if there’s a hero, who taught me to see them that way? If there’s a villain, what’s the missing backstory? What if dignity, context, and care were the lead characters?
Maybe news doesn’t need less storytelling, but more room for nuance. Conflict can open the door as long as it doesn’t lock it behind us.