Ordinary people experiencing extraordinary things - a spotlight on PA Media's Real Life team - part. 2

Several weeks ago, we caught up with Real Life Editor Edd Dracott, who provided some insight into the work his Real Life editorial team does, and how they go about sourcing their stories from everyday people and find these stories that are very relatable and contain fascinating characters.

In this next spotlight on Edd and his team, Edd shares what he believes to be the big appeal of Real Life stories, and goes further into the trends he has witnessed in his tenure as Editor.

What do you think makes these stories so appealing for readers?

I think what makes it appealing, first off, is that you’re reading something that is out of the ordinary, that is something remarkable and different. But then second to that, it’s also relatable. So even though it’s something that’s completely weird and wonderful, we do try to get across the fact that sometimes people have just had a strange experience that happened. Suddenly from that moment on, their life changed forever, and then they’ve got this really compelling story that goes with it, that you want to hear about. And those are the kind of stories that really cut through and that really resonate with people because they can relate to them.

And I think it’s compelling and interesting to hear stories from people who are part of a community, that you don’t know anything about. For example, we had this story on someone who was a furry, who dresses up as a Staffordshire bull terrier every day because it’s part of their identity and helps them to express themselves. And that is not necessarily someone who you might bump into every day and chat to.

Having a window into that person’s life can be fascinating and, however bizarre you might find a story, you’re able to then find this relatability to it and understand why this person decides that this is what they want to do and what they’re passionate about. And I think that is what really keeps you engaged and gets you reading beyond the remarkable headline. We do fantastic headlines, and we have we put a lot of effort into making sure that our headlines on the top of our stories are as gripping as possible and to make a story as engaging as possible from the get-go.

But I think the thing that gets you reading all the way down to the bottom of a story is wanting to understand how something like this happened and what it’s like for this person, or why they are living this way. I think that empathy is something that we encourage really well, and that’s what human interest stories all about.

Have you seen any trends of a type of story that’s proving popular with customers or audience that has been in high demand?

There is a lot to be said for consumer articles. Particularly with the cost of living situation going on, if people are getting ripped off in some way, people get angry about it and they want to hear about it. Where we did a story recently about this guy who drove into the low emission zone in London. He got fined 2,000 pounds and it was a 10-mile journey.

That might sound like something that maybe happens semi regularly, but it’s a really relatable story that people will understand and relate to and go, “I could have just taken a wrong turn and ended up in that emission zone and got fined 2,000 pounds like that man”.

That story picked up a lot of interest with national newspapers using it a lot.

Health stories can do well, so long as they’re really compelling and we do hear some very grim situations with people and we have to approach these delicately, talking through the story and working with them in as kind a way as we possibly can.

But these harrowing health stories do experience cut through and resonate with audiences.

But equally, another type of story that people are interested in as well, are stories to do with relationships and there’s an awful lot of interesting relationships out there. We’ve had an awful lot of interest in stories about, for example, divorcees who have gone on to do something remarkable.

We spoke to a wonderful woman who turned her and her ex-partner’s home into a naturist resort where she greets the guests naked.

It’s those quirky stories that perform well and cut through too.

We also had a fantastic interview with a hairdresser who transitioned from male to female aged 69, who we found through Reddit and that remarkable story picked up a lot of media interest.

So far in your tenure as Real Life editor, what to you has been a stand out story?

We recently spoke to a throuple which was a fantastic story. It’s three men who are raising a young, adopted daughter, and they’re hoping to become the second throuple in the United States to be recognised, and have three of them on the birth certificate of their baby.

That’s such a rare story which was found by Molly Powell on our Real Life desk by being very savvy online, finding the family on Instagram.

The story has performed well here in the UK but also made US news outlets too, and I think it was even discussed on GB News as well.

Another favourite of mine was a story on Wynne Evans, the GoCompare man. He talked to us about his weight loss but also spoke about the breakdown of his marriage.  It was a really thoughtful and compelling piece offering a different side to him, and the story went everywhere.

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