THE STORY - QUALITY, “COOL”, AND STYLE FUSED ONTO A ROADMAP OF TODAY’S MEDIA
Disclaimer: I had the great pleasure of being chosen to be the translator into Spanish of the 2nd and 3rd books of the trilogy making up The Story and the co-translator of the upcoming Spanish version of the 1st book
On writing The Story, Mario Garcíá’s unspoken purpose was, no doubt, twofold. First and foremost, to open stakeholders’ eyes to the unprecedented society’s approach to news consumption led by the ubiquitous pocket-sized computers: smartphones. Second, to take it upon himself to raise people’s awareness of this fact.
The Story Volume I is the introduction to the visceral, fast-paced changes that are turning the news industry on its head. García not only provides an in-depth review of such changes, but also a granular, step-by-step tutorial that puts news people up to speed on how to proactively use them to their advantage.
He begins with what might go unnoticed: a scientist-like analysis of today’s society. He masterfully dissects people’s behavior going about life and their interplay with technology and other members of the same species. He shows us how ingrained in us smartphones have become and how we use them for a wide array of activities: from listening to music to reading entire books to… keeping abreast of what is happening on the planet.
From a philosophical standpoint, Mario García also analyzes humans’ innate reluctance to change and how they struggle, tooth and nail, to remain in their comfort zones like, for example, when he states that journalists, paradoxically, still go to newsrooms to get tomorrow’s morning paper ready instead of its digital version. García, marked by change since his landing on Earth and fully in tune with this day and age, advises breaking free from the past and embracing this current tsunami of innovation head-on.
Through an impressive number of examples from renowned newspapers and magazines he has as clients to interviews with some of the most sought-after press people specialized in hyper topical fields, García covers a vast number of bases such as algorithms, VR, AI and so on and so forth, all written in a way in which cool, authoritative info, and lots of style play co-leading roles.
The Story, specially written to be read entirely on our phones, is a chapter-changing book that examines a global sea-change that should be required reading for any journalist worth his salt, but it is also an awesome read for those who try to grasp these elusive, fleeting, and frantic times which are taking us by storm. It will not disappoint anyone as its author easily meets the expectations of the most demanding professionals on the scene and, by making full use of his craftsmanship as a Adjunct Professor at the most prestigious school of journalism, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, he performs the feat of alchemy when driving the message home to the lay person.
The Story is a juggernaut in which the takeaway is that future, as we perceive it, is indeed walking next to us, not ahead of us. It is this very moment we are witnessing a new world unfolding before our very eyes.