Who. What. When. Where.

If you’re familiar with the journalist’s craft at all, you probably noticed I’ve left something off.

It’s right out of Journalism 101, actually: Every story is supposed to answer the Five W’s.

But the one I left out — the fifth W, “why?” — may be the most important. Miss it, and you may have missed the real story.

In my own experience as a journo I’ve noticed that a big “why” in a lot of stories is faith. And more times than not they are the stories we like best. The ones about surviving, persevering, overcoming, beating incredible odds.

It’s also a “why” that too often gets silenced in the media.

The latest example happened last week with ESPN’s coverage of Isaiah Austin.

A young basketball player from Baylor, Washington, as you may have heard, learned just days ago while preparing for his dream — to be drafted to play in the NBA — that he had an incurable disease and would never play basketball again. This news came, mind you, after he’d already overcome many challenges in life to get to where he was.

Austin didn’t ask “why me?” though. Instead, he took the opportunity to give glory to God and testify to the good things He had done and no doubt would continue to do in his life.

A few media outlets, to their credit, did reference Washington’s strong faith. But ESPN, not inconsistent with its attitude toward faith matters, chose to omit any mention of it entirely.

And that, in my opinion, misses the real story.

From the little I know of him, I’m pretty sure Isaiah Austin would tell you that if not for the big “why” in his life — if his was just the story of a guy persevering through trials — then it would really be a pretty sad story, and not one worth hearing about.

The “why” is everything. Why he’s here. Why his life and struggles matter. Why anything matters.

Unfortunately, it’s also a “why” that many in the media don’t want to hear about.