Strictly Q&A

Extraordinary access: A reporter follows a police officer on a mental health call

Hannah Dreier of the Washington Post reveals the complexity of policing in her narrative of an officer, a troubled woman, a gun, and cell phone cameras

By Trevor Pyle • August 11, 2020

Officer Thomas Parker participates in roll call before his shift at the North Precinct of the Huntsville Police Department in Alabama

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Notable Narratives

The enduring power of John Hersey’s “Hiroshima”: the first “nonfiction novel”

On the 75th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb, Hersey's taut, unflinching story remains a masterpiece of narrative reporting

By Jacqui Banaszynski • August 6, 2020

Strictly Q&A

How the “Beyonce of earthquakes” uses storytelling to explain science

Seismologist Lucy Jones mixes an "alchemy" of hard data and compelling imagery to relay messages about risk and response

By Alla Katsnelson • August 4, 2020

Featured Contributors

Chip Scanlan

Diana K. Sugg

Roy Peter Clark

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Featured topics

Writing tips Science writing Gay Talese Longform narrative The Pitch
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Personal Essays

When the bounds of conventional journalism are too tight

By Brendan Meyer
July 31, 2020

In "The Hero of Goodall Park," Tom Junod unraveled a 50-year-old secret — and helped fashion a new ending

Personal Essays

How protest songs echo — and sometimes lead — the stories of our times

By Dale Keiger
July 29, 2020

Neil Young's anti-war anthem "Ohio" was a form of activist journalism

Story Annotations

What happens when a superstar novelist is asked to profile a superstar actress?

By Monique Brouillette
July 28, 2020

Ann Patchett writes about Reese Witherspoon: No celebrity dirt, a storytelling structure, lots of dialog about books and houses and feminism

From the Editor

If no one reads the news, did it happen?

By Jacqui Banaszynski
July 22, 2020

A reflection on the wall of indifference — and the touchstones of hope

Strictly Q&A

Fashion reporting as cultural criticism

By Audra Jenkins
July 21, 2020

Pulitzer winner Robin Givhan uses her skills as a fashion critic to deliver social and political commentary, and call out the emperor beneath the clothes

One Great Moment

“… between broad statistical data and intimate personal disclosure.”

By Jacqui Banaszynski
July 17, 2020

Classical music critic Michael Andor Brodeur of the Washington Post

From the Editor

How to become a “five-tool” storyteller

By Jacqui Banaszynski
July 14, 2020

Journalism requires multiple skills or tools, which means it requires a team

From the Editor

Four questions mine for bottomless wisdom

By Jacqui Banaszynski
July 10, 2020

Writing coach Chip Scanlan brings back "Chip on Your Shoulder," which features formatted interviews that yield a surprising range of answers

Story Annotations

Navigating ethics, culture and safety to immerse in immigration and Covid

By Trevor Pyle
July 8, 2020

Pulitzer Prize winner Hannah Dreier writes an "unusually quiet story" that presented challenges of access, health risks and structure

Strictly Q&A

Rejecting the simplified news narrative

By Kristen Chin
July 2, 2020

Documentary filmmaker Erin Lee Carr probes the complexity of the human psyche in well-known criminal cases

One Great Moment

“His conversation is so delightfully sauced …”

By Madeline Bodin
July 1, 2020

Robin Wall Kimmerer from an essay in "Braiding Sweetgrass"

Story Craft

What crisis reporting can teach about better sports reporting

By Reid Glenn
June 30, 2020

An award-winning sports reporter draws on three tools to find relevant stories in any situation

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