Landon Smith Media

For this analysis, I analyzed a story from WKYT titled “Lexington company thanks customers for spike in business after warning it could close”. The article tells the story of Al-Taj Mediterranean Bakery & Sweets, which was days away from closing, and how they managed to turn their business around.

I think this would be better as a story because it has a clear struggle, followed by a clear resolution. The story being presented as it is works fine, but the reader would probably feel a lot more deeply about it if there was a more detailed version that really went into depth about how the restaurant was struggling, and how they managed to come back from that.

If this story were to be told with more of a narrative structure, the first act would show the process of how the restaurant started going out of business. It would have quotes from managers, workers, and maybe even customers who saw it steadily going downhill. The second act would start with the Facebook post from the owners that predicted the end of the restaurant. This could be followed by the influx of business that the post created. The third and final act would show how the restaurant is now thriving and keeping up business at a level they have never had before. It could also use quotes from staff and customers that would show just how much had changed so quickly.

Peter Clark’s five W’s can help give a guidance on how to write this story. The “who” is the workers, specifically the owners who made the original post that gained so much traction. The what is the post itself, as that is what set the positive change in business in motion. The where could be the restaurant, although it could also be Nicholas Park Drive, as that is where the restaurant is located, and could give some information as to why they were going out of business in the first place. The when could make people more eager to go see the business for themselves since their rise in business was so recent. The why would go into why that Facebook post had such a great impact on their business. You could use quotes from customers that say why they started coming there.

The original article is very brief, and does not have any direct quotes in it. To make this a truly solid narrative piece you would need first-hand accounts from staff and maybe even customers of the restaurant. Much more B-roll would also be needed as there is just one picture of the restaurant in the article.