Attached: When Reporting and Caring Are Intertwined

My 17 year old daughter dreams of being a journalist (especially for the New York Times) so that she can tell stories and hopefully create empathy for the situations of others. You have done a great job in telling your story and I will definitely share this with my daughter. I am hopeful that she too can be a journalist with a heart.

Thanks for being a mensch as well as a journalist. These boundaries are sometimes difficult to manage, but the human heart generally knows what it is about, if we listen to it.

Ok. That does it. This John Leland article finally gets me out of my comfortable chair and into action. Though I may not be a zillionaire, I do have a great deal to be thankful for and the simple act of taking time to BE with an elderly individual I see/know can change lives. As Mr. Leland truthfully writes, look out world, it'll change yours. See you out there.

Journalism shouldn't be journalism. It should be reporting. Perhaps this points to a debate that beginning "history of journalism" classes have, but evidence, including this article, appears to indicate that the debate's resolution in favor of journalism, somehow trumping old-fashioned reporting, is premature. Mr. Leland's conundrum of whether he should be "involved" demonstrates the continued relevance of that debate. Listening requires "involvement" and even "attachment." The sobriquet "journalism" is simply an admonition that one's "attachments" should primarily be to one's place of employment. Nonsense. Good job of discussing the issue, Mr. Leland.

Good man.

Well done. I sure hope someone sends your articles to Ted Cruz so he can see just what those New York values are that he so sarcastically referred to.

The value of a reporter's work is grounded in his empathy and understanding of the people on whom he is reporting. So, stop and cut off that empathy because it might change the subject in one way or another? I don't get it and I don't buy it, which is one reason, I suppose, I majored in history in college instead of journalism.

I never understood, also, where objectivity is supposed to come from. Oh, two years of concentrated study, junior and senior year, is supposed not only to produce it, but guarantee it? Can't be done.

What happens I think is that journalists pretend to be objective and have distance while the readers or viewers don't accept the idea one whit. You can't do great work without caring and you can't care and not do anything when someone is right in front of you and needs help. There are times when journalism asks too much of the human.

In 2005 in New Orleans after Katrina (I was in the area as the hurricane passed through and afterward) news crews were able to hire boats and go out and photograph people stranded in the flood waters. They either were told not to pick anyone up or didn't (not enough room) or out of professional "distance" from "the story". I say this is a crime. I would rather be a caring human any day that a hotshot reporter. I congratulate the reporter on the elderly series for doing a great job of empathic reporting and, also, crossing the line that had to be crossed.

Doug Terry

Wonderful New York tales. I thoroughly enjoyed the interviews and am glad he overstepped the boundaries, if necessary. A great series.

Dear John,
The life of writer is a tricky place since in a way, we live at the intersections of objectivity and empathy- sacred spaces where the warp and weft of our lives and the lives of those we write about come together. Humanity is a web. Touch one part, and the whole thing quivers. Thanks for reminding us about this.

Beautiful article. I have a one-year-old daughter I occasionally take to visit a local senior home and it is always a rejuvenating experience.

In the beginning not that particular way of communication ,mutual understanding ,in the end becoming an important part of living and Life for all of them.
Touching and sensitive !
My respect.

I needed to read this today. We seem short on compassion especially when so many are less fortunate. Well done John Leland.

This series of articles have been deeply gripping and personally I'm very glad you were able and willing to sometimes break "the rules" of reporting. My father, as division historian/reporter during WWII found numerous incidents where he did exactly the same thing. Some of his articles after he returned, when Foreign Affairs Editorial Writer for the Providence Journal, were very poignant and insightful. There are situations when human compassion needs to be acknowledged and the lines stepped across.

I understand the need for so-called objectivity, yet I often wonder, even when distance is observed, whether one can truly be completely free of it. I believe when the line in the sand is too ridge the reporter and the reporting can be shaped even more dramatically, and not for the better, because of internal guilt, misgivings or horror. In any case, helping out an old man by changing a couple of burned out light bulbs, then telling the readers what you did, is hardly a deep breach of ethics. At least not in my book. I want reporters to be human begins with feelings -- as well as awareness. Reporters are not automations.

I enjoyed this article immensely and I enjoyed the whole series but I also felt the interviews with these old folks was a source of pain to them as I read them especially when Fred cried; I thought if Fred hadn't been probed by these questions he wouldn't have had to look at his answers, and to face his sad situation of old age; he wouldn't have cried.

I feel it was a mistake. Journalism is all about being human first while observing and reporting and not just being objective. The boundaries need to be more empathetic.

I've been keeping an eye on a neighbor who is ~90 who lives alone. He seems so resilient and vulnerable at the same time. Thanks for the reminder...time to check in with the neighbor again.

What a nice follow up. I'm glad you were able to help these folks when they needed you. Being kind is always the right thing to do. God bless you and all the folks you followed.