Piece Comment

Review of Tending the Barter's Island Bridge


This is a sound-rich piece documenting the duties of twin brothers who operate this unique bridge in Maine. The piece is a good example of first-person narrative by the story's subjects. At no time do we hear the voice of producer Amanda Davis. Aside from being a clever way of producing the piece, I get the feeling Davis is demonstrating her respect for the subject matter. Talk about letting people tell their own story!

It's kind of quirky and fun. I hope that was the intention of the producer, althrough the brothers seem to be quite serious about the importance of the job they do and the need for the bridge to continue operating in its current and historic manner.

I'm having a hard time imaging why anyone would air this beyond the region in the Northeast where it was produced. It might be a good companion piece if your station is near a similar bridge operation and you've produced a more local segment. Another idea, why not use it on Labor Day in the context of a discussion of not-so-common or nearly-extinct jobs?