Photographers and writers exhibit a skill that empowers others to comprehend the story behind their work and experience deeper empathy for the subject. Two such pieces detail separate sojourns across America -- This Land, by photographer Jack Spencer, and City Makers: American Futures by national correspondent forThe Atlantic, James Fallows, and his wife Deb. Each work is successful in providing local perspective that is not discernible at a national level. Both demonstrate that a collective view of the U.S. cannot be achieved without deeper inquiry and familiarization of its individual components. As marketers rely more on data and artificial intelligence to detect and actuate consumer engagement, it becomes more important to compensate for the diverse set of variables that exist in local markets. Aggregation without acknowledgement and incorporation of local market dynamics is insufficient.
How Local Journalism Can Help Marketers Interpret America
