From the Editor

When the story of one is the story of many

No matter the collective loss from COVID, the loss of each individual counts

By Jacqui Banaszynski • March 1, 2021

Electric candles await a bipartisan group of members Congress for a moment of silence honoring the 500,000 U.S. COVID-19 deaths, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021.

Go behind the scenes of four 2020 George Polk Award winners

Winners that were featured in Storyboard interviews revealed how journalists worked during a challenging news year

By Jacqui Banaszynski • February 26, 2021

Story Annotations

How a national correspondent gained trust to cover COVID in a tiny Kansas town

Trevor Hughes of USA Today worked his way from the outside-in to write about a rural community besieged by COVID

By Carly Stern • February 25, 2021

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Strictly Q&A

What narrative master Eli Saslow learned about intimacy interviewing by phone

By Matt Tullis

February 24, 2021

The Washington Post's year-long "Voices from the Pandemic" series took hours of pre-reporting, patient listening and letting go of writerly control

From the Editor

The teaching power of obituaries

By Jacqui Banaszynski

February 23, 2021

The final "life story" demands sensitive interviewing, strong character development, the arc of narrative and foolproof fact-checking

Narrative News

A Black reporter sets off on a journey of “My Country”

By Jacqui Banaszynski

February 19, 2021

Tyrone Beason of The Los Angeles Times launches a new series exploring racial and political divisions in America

One Great Moment

“She was delicate the way a ribbon of steel holds up its part of a bridge.”

By Mallary Tenore

February 18, 2021

From the obituary of Cicely Tyson by Wesley Morris of The New York Times

Narrative News

Sharpen your narrative journalism skills in 2021 at these writers’ conferences

By Madeline Bodin

February 16, 2021

A developing list of gatherings you can attend in person or online

From the Editor

Metrics can’t always or instantly measure impact

By Jacqui Banaszynski

February 15, 2021

Journalism may not make a difference in the moment, but is essential to truth and history

Story Craft

Who, How and Why? What we can learn from an interview with the Super Bowl streaker

By Jacqui Banaszynski and Lane DeGregory

February 12, 2021

Lane DeGregory of the Tampa Bay Times follows her curiosity to find the scamp who interrupted the Super Bowl

One Great Moment

“… equal was the one thing all men were not.”

By Jacqui Banaszynski

February 10, 2021

Rye Dolan in the novel "The Cold Millions," by Jess Walter

Why's This So Good?

Videos taken by Parler users from the U.S. Capitol assault tell a valuable story

By Alexander Trowbridge

February 9, 2021

ProPublica collected banned videos of the insurrection from Parler posts to archive that historic day

Personal Essays

Jumpstart your writing routine: coffee, journals, sketches and postcards

By Jill U. Adams

February 4, 2021

A science freelancer works her way out of COVID malaise with morning writing rituals

Story Annotations

How the magic of mushrooms inspired magical science writing about ecology

By Alla Katsnelson

February 3, 2021

Ferris Jabr follows a forest ecologist into the woods to listen to the conversations that happen above and below ground

From the Editor

Five days and five senses: Free writing as a daily practice

February 2, 2021

Prompts to help you build stronger writing muscles every day