Lori Harfenist's Journalistic Tactics

Screen shot of 'The Resident'.

Lori Harfenist: Manhattan's respectfully sarcastic and legitimately informative broadcast journalist and video producer. She is missioning to voice out that low-budget productions are able to produce videos that are highly saturated with worthwhile content; generally all under 2 to 3 minutes. 

(Photo on the left is from The Resident website) Harfenist has definitely, in my opinion, impacted my perspective on broadcast journalism. How she has simplified the process of bringing issues to the public and inputting her own opinions of them creates a significant statement in the media. What appeals to me about how she approaches her stories is that she delivers the news in such a way that an average person would and by doing so, she is allowing her audience to relate or even debate on the issues that she is laying out onto the table. I think what makes her show so appealing to so many people is that she is very concise and she packages her stories in short lengths, meaning that the audience is fully focused on her and what she is saying throughout the whole video rather than the audience being distracted by filler intros, outros, advertisements and sponsors. She also makes her shows very interactive. She asks her viewers on their opinions and what they would like to see and hear about. Unlike mainstream media that filters out what they are going to show on air.



An example of Lori Harfenist's method of attracting and entertaining an audience. (Source: YouTube.com)

Another reason why I think her show is so appealing to so many people is because she adds character and attitude. The way she attacks her stories are sometimes sarcastic; she skillfully uses the tone of her voice to sound positive about negative issues which adds ironic humor to her shows. Humor = entertaining = attracts an audience.