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Dear Storyboard community:
It has been a historic week for American democracy, and I am once again grateful for the journalists who are working to tell this story. We will be reading, watching, and listening along — if you have a narrative that you’ve written or would like to share with the Storyboard community, please send it to us: editor@niemanstoryboard.org.
This week I’m also excited to share our first-ever live episode of the Nieman Storyboard podcast that was recorded onstage at the annual Society for Features Journalism conference: My conversation with Kurt Streeter, national correspondent for The New York Times, who was one of the featured speakers at the Arizona State University event on Oct. 23.
Kurt’s topic for the conversation was “the fine art of hanging out,” and how it helps us build trust and deepen relationships with the people we write about. Earlier that week, before our conversation, Kurt and I put that theory to work — meeting for breakfast at my favorite neighborhood record store-slash-diner in West Seattle, Easy Street Records.
There was a lesson for me in this, and it’s the polar opposite of the phrase, “This could have been an email”: If you have the opportunity to go to breakfast with someone instead of exchanging emails or having a phone call, go to breakfast. You will be glad you logged off and closed the laptop to connect in real life.
Unfortunately, a day before the conference, Kurt got sick and wasn’t going to be able to attend in-person. Thankfully, he was still game to speak with us remotely. He was projected onto a big screen at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and shared some important lessons from his career at The New York Times, ESPN, the Baltimore Sun, and Los Angeles Times.
In journalism, the conditions are not always (and usually never) perfect: Sometimes you don’t get all the access and time with someone that you need. Sometimes have a long conversation over breakfast, sometimes you do the same on Zoom.
But Streeter, who’s based in Seattle, knows how to make the most of every situation, regardless of access. His pieces are immersive and character-driven, bringing us into the lives and aspirations of people across the country, like the little girl who dreamed of becoming a boxer, an order of nuns in New York City, or a man learning from his mentor about the art of typewriter repair.
Thanks, as always, for listening.
“It’s amazing how many times, just by keeping your notepad open, keeping your ears open, your story subject will mention something that they consider absolutely to be not interesting at all, and it’s the golden nugget that carries your story.”
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Links of note
- “Election Night’s Most Poignant Picture”: Garrett Graff, author of the forthcoming book, “America in 25 Revolutions,” digs into history using a tweet featuring Democrat James Talarico, the projected winner of Texas U.S. Senate race, celebrating with Luci Baines Johnson, the daughter of Lyndon B. Johnson, the last Democrat to represent Texas in the Senate.
- The European Press Prize, which celebrates reporting that “informs, inspires, investigates, and makes an impact,” is now accepting submissions for its 2027 awards. Journalists and publications from across Europe — all 46 Council of Europe countries, plus Belarus and Russia — are invited to submit their best work in five categories. They also will accept stories in which the subject matter “is European in nature, or relevance.” Stories must have been published between Dec. 1, 2025 and Dec. 31, 2026. The deadline is Dec. 10. Full details and the submission form are here.
- Last year I asked you, the Storyboard community, to share your favorite stories, podcasts, books, or documentaries of the year — and it resulted in an amazing list of recommendations. So let’s try it again for 2026: Tell me the stories that stuck with you this year, and what lessons (about the craft, about journalism, about yourself) that you took away from them. Email your picks to me by Dec. 1: editor@niemanstoryboard.org.
Keep doing the work, and keep sharing your stories,
Mark Armstrong
Editor
Nieman Storyboard
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