Story Craft

Making good journalistic trouble, Part III: Stories of empowerment and action

A Vanderbilt professor argues for stories that help readers and affected people alike see that they can make a difference in the face of social ills

By Paul A. Kramer • December 9, 2022

Hundreds of persons marched through downtown Baltimore, March 30, 1964 in a demonstration for racial equality.

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Story Craft

Making good journalistic trouble, Part II: Highlighting urgency and proximity

Nonfiction stories should include reporting that shows that distant-seeming problems are closer and more immediate than realized

By Paul A. Kramer • December 8, 2022

Story Craft

Making good journalistic trouble, Part I: Exposing overlooked problems

A Vanderbilt professor argues that nonfiction writing can connect writers, readers and social issues through a re-frame of traditional story approaches

By Paul A. Kramer • December 7, 2022

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From the Editor

A supreme beat education: The U.S. Supreme Court

By Jacqui Banaszynski
December 5, 2022

Covering courts can give reporters access to stories about all aspects of society — past, present and future

Strictly Q&A

The mastery of Supreme Court reporting, Part IV: Pre-reporting possibilities

By Trevor Pyle
December 2, 2022

Mark Sherman of the Associated Press anticipates the impact of even the most unlikely Court ruling, then pre-reports and pre-writes multiple ledes

Strictly Q&A

The mastery of Supreme Court reporting, Part III: Analysis and meaning over scoops

By Trevor Pyle
December 1, 2022

Ian Millhiser of Vox views the Court through a political lens and draws on his law school degree to translate "demon" legal language

Strictly Q&A

The mastery of Supreme Court reporting, Part II: The intersection of law and politics

By Trevor Pyle
November 30, 2022

Pulitzer winner Lawrence Hurley recently moved from Reuters to NBC where he focuses on the "practical impact" of Court rulings

Strictly Q&A

The mastery of Supreme Court reporting, Part I: authoritative, clear and fast

By Trevor Pyle
November 29, 2022

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post strives to make his coverage accessible without losing complexity or context; legal experts help

Personal Essays

A journalist’s journey into her family story leads to a history of American pie

By Dustin Renwick
November 25, 2022

Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle baked a humble dessert into a big idea

Personal Essays

Two Native American journalists talk turkey about Thanksgiving

By Jason Begay
November 24, 2022

University of Montana journalist Jason Begay, of the Navajo Nation, talks to Washington Post journalist Dana Hedgpeth, of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe, about living with and correcting history

From the Editor

Reading and redefining the “classics”

By Jacqui Banaszynski
November 21, 2022

A lifelong reader reflects on filling — and then letting go of — gaps in a literary education

Personal Essays

What empathy is, and isn’t, in journalism

By Lauren Kessler
November 18, 2022

An author who profiles sensitive subjects makes a case for "the journalism of empathy" and how to practice it

Narrative News

Your next book club list: National Book Award winners and finalists

By Jacqui Banaszynski
November 17, 2022

The 2022 National Book Awards were announced this week. I expect I am not alone in adding the winners in fiction and nonfiction to my wish list and handing it, not very discreetly, to my gift-giver-in-residence. Come late December, I hope to have the winners —… Read More

Strictly Q&A

Peeling back bureaucracy one document, source and interview at a time

By Trevor Pyle
November 15, 2022

Immigration policy reporter Caitlin Dickerson of The Atlantic tore back the curtain on the U.S. family-separation policy

One Great Moment

” … a slab of muscle with Olympic speed.”

By Jacqui Banaszynski
November 11, 2022

Tommy Tomlinson on Herschel Walker in his football prime

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