Home » ‘The Story:’ Australia’s New Digital Magazine About The Art, Craft And Science Of Storytelling

22 November, 2021

‘The Story:’ Australia’s New Digital Magazine About The Art, Craft And Science Of Storytelling

Funded by Fireside creative agency, The Story is a new Aussie digital magazine that bills itself as storytelling about storytelling.

The magazine is edited by Chris Harrigan (featured image), former editor of Smith Journal, and published by Fireside founder, former journalist, and political advisor Ben Hart.

“As a journalist, Ben used storytelling to make sense of the world, and then he then took those same tools and used them to help small businesses and not-for-profits get their stories out into the world,” said Harrigan.

“I think it occurred to Ben in both of these jobs that storytelling is a really powerful tool.

“It’s at the heart of so much of our day-to-day lives, not just in the entertainment we consume, but in the political narratives that vie for our votes and the brands we choose to engage with or ignore.”

Hart was surprised that he couldn’t find a place to read about storytelling in the course of his job. So he wanted to create a magazine that explained how storytelling intersects with our life.

The magazine wanted to avoid creating another content mill, instead, The Story takes a ‘slow journalism’ approach to publishing, by prioritising thoughtful, in-depth, and useful coverage to service a diverse audience.

“It’s a place to dissect great stories to see how they work, interview professional storytellers to learn about their craft, and wrestle with the issues facing the media and comms worlds today,” said Harrigan.

So far The Story has featured the talent of some big Aussie writers like Clementine Ford (Fight Like A Girl), James Hennessy (Business Insider Australia, Pedestrian), and Rachel Withers (The Monthly).

The digital magazine also features a podcast called StoryCraft. Hosted by Hart, StoryCraft features interviews and discussions with Aussie journalists, writers, and reporters as we gain an insight into their work.

But The Story is not limited to the craft behind stories told by journalists, writers, or people in communications.

Harrigan pointed out the article by Hennessy that looks at QAnon through the lens of storytelling.

“The reason that theory has spread so widely is because it’s really effective story-telling,” said Harrigan.

“To write this piece he looked at QAnon through the lens of it being fan-fiction. Looking at the ways in which fan fiction tells stories and how those can be applied doesn’t at first glance appear to be a story, but ultimately that’s the reason it’s so powerful because humans are storytelling animals.

“It’s not enough to just have an idea and expect it to spread, you need to be able to express it as a story. The ideas that embed themselves in our culture and in our minds are generally the ones that can be told as stories.”

When asked about plans for the future of The Story, Harrigan said they will continue moving at a pace that allows them to produce in-depth and considered content.

You can check out The Story here and also follow them on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

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