As in all of Siegel’s stories on this site, all of which cover in some sense an “endangered child,” he portrays emotional content—in this case a young boy’s death, his parents’ senseless loss—while making a contribution to the way we … Read more
Siegel builds this piece on effective, masterful movement from story-telling through explanatory digressions and back to story. The digressions advance not just our understanding of how this girl could come to die in the way she did, but also the … Read more
What consistently sets Siegel’s writing apart from many other newspaper narratives is his ability and willingness to construct an authoritative, muscular “argument.” In this case, he shows how a middle-class community in the 1960s failed to prevent a child’s murder, … Read more
Nazario’s reporting for this series was remarkable. She followed Enrique for part of his journey—from the U.S.-Mexican border to North Carolina—and reconstructed the rest. As part of her research into his experience, she rode seven freight trains, hitched a ride … Read more
Mark Kramer cautions his students against writing “How I Got the Story” stories. A particularly amateurish version of such a story might begin: “I felt nervous as I walked into Jane Doe’s elegant office. I knew she was one of … Read more
This piece is beautifully, closely reported: We admired the scene, for example, in which baby Nick’s heart rate calms as his father caresses and talks to him. This is wonderful, real, touching detail. The piece is also plainly, unsentimentally … Read more
Moehringer writes about a man who, many feel, has been wronged. We like the opening paragraphs of the piece, in which Moehringer is crafty with us readers, leading us in one direction, only to turn another way. We like that … Read more
Seniesa Estrada and her father live in a gang-ridden, poor area of LA. When she’s eight, Seniesa decides she wants to box. It turns out she’s good at it—and that succeeding at it may save both her father and herself. Read more
We appreciate the respectful, compassionate and detached stance of this piece. Streeter writes about Arnie Koslow, a lonely man who is looking back on his life as the timekeeper for some of boxing’s greatest matches. The piece’s stance is achieved … Read more
This piece is built around an extraordinary character, an extraordinary setting—Gee’s Bend, Ala.—and tells an extraordinary history. Moehringer’s voice does the subject justice: The voice is at once eloquent and plain, like the language of his protagonist, Mary Lee. The … Read more
