In an article about interfaith relationships, Cassandra Spratling, reporter for the Chicago Tribune, opened by highlighted a Detroit family. She describes their home of Arnie and Andrea D’Amore-Braver and their two sons as they decorates for both Christmas and Hanukkah with beautiful detail of the “blue-and-white tablecloth imprinted with menorahs” and the “sparkling Christmas lights”, presenting the border between religious faiths which the family straddles through vivid imagery.
Spratling continues to describe the family’s religious situation. She does so, however, with no direct quotes from any one of the four family members, though they are the main sources featured in the article. The fact that not one of them had something newsworthy to say or was willing to speak on the record raises suspicions.
The story has a certain charm to it, emphasizing families, holidays, and a sense of togetherness. The story could have been enhanced by focusing on a family from the Chicago area, making the piece more relatable to Tribune readers. This would be especially effective considering the lack of good journalistic coverage of the D’Amore-Braver family from Michigan. In fact, near the end of the piece another interfaith family, the Chandra’s, is mentioned, using direct quotes, from the surrounding Chicago area. The article could have easily begun with the Chandra’s and lead into the statistics presented about interfaith couples as a whole, rather than begin with a narrow focus which widens to a national scope only to be narrowed again.
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