As a longtime journalist, I’ve learned over the years that it’s more difficult to write a short, succinct story than an overly long one.
Believe it or not, it’s much easier to dump a whole notebook’s worth of facts and quotes into an article than it is to carefully sort through the information and choose your words sparingly.
Maybe that’s why I found our latest community project so personally challenging. Over the past few weeks, we’ve posed this question to Akron residents and natives from all walks of life:
In one word, how would you describe Akron?
We came up with the “Akron in a Word” project during a weekly newsroom brainstorming session. I challenged the staff to identify a story and community engagement initiative for the Akron Bicentennial Signature Celebration Week, which coincides with the July Fourth holiday.
The staff agreed it would be fun to ask residents and people with Akron ties to write down a single word to describe the city and then take their photos with their posters.
Of course, Akron didn’t let us down. The diversity of words and thoughts shared has been incredible.
You can read the results here.
Our original plan was to just share the words in a story and photo gallery on BeaconJournal.com and in the Akron Beacon Journal print edition. But to make this truly a community project, we decided we needed to display the posters and photos in the community.
You can see the Akron in a Word project on display at the Akron History Center, 172 S. Main St., through July 12 during the museum’s regular hours, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. And while you’re there, be sure to write down your one word to describe Akron and add it to the exhibit with a Post-it note.
If you’re like me, coming up with an answer might be harder than you think. It’s kind of like the old Lay’s potato chip slogan, “Bet you can’t eat just one.” Only for me, the challenge was to write just one word.
When I think of Akron, so many terms come to mind: Resilient. Scrappy. Diverse. Hopeful. Blimps. Swensons. Home. The list goes on and on.
Ultimately, I came up with a single word that I thought was fitting, given my role as the leader of the community’s largest newsroom: “Newsworthy.”
Akron is a city with a lot happening. It’s a community full of people whose stories are worth telling.
Akron IS newsworthy.
What’s your one word to describe Akron?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Drop me a line at cpowell@thebeaconjournal.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: There are many words to describe Akron. How do you pick just one? | Cheryl Powell
Reporting by Cheryl Powell, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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