How can journalists make the significant interesting, without making it sensational?

Increasingly nowadays, desperate journalists, in an attempt to make the stories they write more interesting, turn from responsible journalism and write in such a way that exaggerates and sensationalizes what happens in the news.  Hyperbole and myth are just two of several tools these type of journalists use to get people to pay attention to what they write, even if what they're writing is an assembly of twisted or fabricated facts.  Some claim that publishing pieces like these are the only way to turn a profit, but there are other ways to make the significant interesting without altering the facts.

Sensationalized Journalism 

One of the most important ways to do this is to create characters in the piece that aren't just caricatures of a person, but are built using dialogue and description that cause them to come alive to the reader in a natural and realistic way.  The reason that so many enjoy reading fiction isn't simply because the plot is something they wouldn't encounter outside of their own experiences, but because they can relate to the characters in the story and they become emotionally invested in their well-being.  Therefore, the first step in constructing a story that draws the reader in without exaggeration, is doing enough research and presenting the true characters of the story in such a way that readers will relate to them and find themselves personally invested with the character's life.

Another important tool for writing an interesting piece about something that many may often overlook, is to use a unique or creative way to organize the story.  Many journalists are trained to write in specific formats, the most common being the inverted pyramid.  However, a journalist working to craft a story that will intrigue readers will construct his story in a way that will make the most sense and emphasize certain points in the most effective way, even if it doesn't conform to the common format.  Mozart's music was revolutionary, not because he followed all the accepted rules of music during that time, but because he learned how to use those rules, and then broke them.  It is important for journalists to learn to write using the accepted rules, but some stories require a more creative approach in order to get the reader to listen.

There are so many stories to be told in this world, and so much information that people really should hear, but sometimes it's difficult to convince those people that it should be important to them.  Journalists must remember that they have the responsibility to give the truth in a way that doesn't cause people to believe something different from reality.  However, if a journalist can stay true to the story and the facts, and yet still construct a story that invites a reader's imagination, they have no need to sensationalize anything, but instead can inform and move.