Ordinary People: Everyday Heroes

A number of newspapers have found good ordinary people stories by looking for small but heroic acts. Here are some examples.

This section is graphics heavy. Please read these instructions before clicking on the images.

There are two ways to view this sub-theme gallery. The first is to click here to begin viewing the Ordinary People: Everyday Heroes Gallery in its entirety. Each page features a brief description and a full-size version of a best practices example of content promotion. All full size images are in the lowest resolution possible while still being readable. Please be aware that these images may load slowly depending on your connection.

When you are finished examining a page, you can go to the next (or previous) example by clicking the navigation arrows at the bottom of the page. You can also return to this page by clicking the Main Page icon.

The second way to use this gallery allows you to choose individual examples to view. Scroll down and select the thumbnail of the example you are interested in viewing.

The thumbnail images are all 72 dpi. To view the full size image of each example, double click on the image. All full size images are in the lowest resolution possible while still being readable and in a variety of sizes. Please be aware that these images may load slowly depending on your connection.

After viewing the image, click the Back button on your browser to return to this page.

Internet Explorer browsers: Please note that the browser may automatically resize the image to a lower-resolution size. Place your cursor on the image and wait for the resize tool (a box with arrows at each corner) to appear. When it appears, click on it to view the image at its full size.

Netscape Communicator: Communicator displays the image as it is. You need to do nothing to see the full size image after it loads.

Easy Ideas | Concerns of Daily Life | Everyday Heroes | Ask Readers | Keep Your Eyes Open

The Beaver County Times (Beaver, PA) Every Monday the Times publishes on Page 1 a story about a “Real-Life Hero,” an ordinary person doing an extraordinary thing. A box with the story invites readers to nominate subjects for profile. Prominent position, good writing and photos make these compelling reads.			The Truth (Elkhart, IN) Like the Beaver County Times, this paper regularly features stories about a “Local Hero,” an ordinary person who does something good that impacts other lives. The feature gets a logo, a detailed breakout box, and prominent display.
Seattle Times Big papers also do regular features on every day heroes. The Times has an occasional series called “Little Acts of Goodness,” about ordinary people. This one was about a boy who spends a year training a dog to be a guide, then has to part with it.			Albany Times Union Staff writer Kate Gurnette finds the quirky, the reformed, the humorous and the uplifting among Albany’s ordinary residents for “Kate Gurnette’s People” every Sunday. Subjects included a fellow who favors eating at church spaghetti suppers, a young man who quit his sales job to focus on creating art after the death of a friend; and this one about a formerly troubled man who turned his life around and helps kids and families in his job as an umpire for a local Little League.
Austin American Statesman Ordinary people can make a big difference, as this story shows. “Miss Sarah” arrives early each day at the tennis courts in a low-income neighborhood with a push broom to clean up glass and beer bottles in preparation to teach poor kids the fundamentals of tennis, sprinkled with lessons on getting along with others and planning for the future.			The Truth (Elkhart, IN) This story about thoughtful twins earned Page 1 placement. For their 75th birthday (as for their 65th and 70th), they asked friends and family to donate canned goods in lieu of gifts or cards, then loaded the food into a truck and delivered it to the local food pantry.
The Huntsville (AL) Times What could have been a routine institutional story is brought to life with a human face. The Times found a fascinating story about a grandmother who volunteers for the local First Responder program that sends help to scenes of domestic abuse. The story focused on the grandmother volunteer, yet still included all the necessary information about the program.

Easy Ideas | Concerns of Daily Life | Everyday Heroes | Ask Readers | Keep Your Eyes Open

Click here to return to the main page of the Gallery.