Rather than using straight reporting techniques to explain a rather complex
issue, this newspaper recently told about companies that were casting a
large shadow across the city and state in a four-part serial. The names
and the companies had become familiar to Sarasota: Ray Neff and his FCCI
Mutual Insurance; Bill Griffin and his Riscorp Inc.
Familiar, but little understood. How had they come to Sarasota and made the companies into profit machines that employed hundreds, dominated the workers compensation insurance industry in Florida and spread their influence in both Tallahassee and the community?
The story had a drama: A bitter war for control of FCCI, which ended
when the trustees of the once-sleepy insurer deposed its founder and
set themselves up for million-dollar profits. It had intrigue: A
racketeering lawsuit against the FCCI trustees in which a company
insider promised to testify for the plaintiffs but then died in a freak drowning.
The chronological telling of this story was done over the four days, with introductory paragraphs each day to bring new readers up to date.
The introduction to Chapter One read: The Herald-Tribune seldom presents
stories in serial form, but this one could be told no other way. Though
long-settled, the struggle to control FCCI, the largest workers comp insurer
in Florida, is a compelling tale of corporate and human ambition.
Later in this program, we'll talk more about serial treatments that have been used successfully over the past year at several newspapers.
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