Articles

C.J. Chivers in The New York Times on hitting the mark in Marja

C.J. Chivers in The New York Times on hitting the mark in Marja

Readers familiar with the work of C.J. Chivers might know him best for his portrait of Vladimir Putin from Esquire or the writing that helped The New York Times score…
May 5, 2010
Andrea Pitzer
David Finkel on The Good Soldiers: "I’m not obligated to these men, but I do want to tell a story that they recognize"

David Finkel on The Good Soldiers: "I’m not obligated to these men, but I do want to tell a story that they recognize"

Tomorrow, Washington Post national enterprise editor David Finkel will receive the 2010 J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize for The Good Soldiers, a bruising account of a U.S. Army battalion’s service…
May 3, 2010
Andrea Pitzer
Adam Hochschild on narrative nonfiction, history and finding the next story

Adam Hochschild on narrative nonfiction, history and finding the next story

Adam Hochschild arrived at the narrative journalism conference at Boston University last weekend feeling liberated after an intense six-year relationship.But soon this writer will be looking to fall in love…
April 30, 2010
Janet Heard
New York Times editor Bill Keller on narrative's future: three "threats" to it he's not buying

New York Times editor Bill Keller on narrative’s future: three "threats" to it he’s not buying

New York Times executive editor Bill Keller thinks the death of narrative journalism has been greatly exaggerated—and he brought some examples to Boston University’s 2010 narrative conference Saturday to prove…
April 27, 2010
Beth Macy
Gay Talese at Boston University narrative conference: "I don’t want something juicy; I want the closest I can get to the truth"

Gay Talese at Boston University narrative conference: “I don’t want something juicy; I want the closest I can get to the truth”

The son of Italian immigrants grew up in a house where there were virtually no books. In the small, World War II-era town of Ocean City, N.J., Gay Talese spent…
April 24, 2010
Beth Macy
Writing is part of the digital story: examples of powerful multimedia presentations that incorporate (not just link to) good nonfiction writing

Writing is part of the digital story: examples of powerful multimedia presentations that incorporate (not just link to) good nonfiction writing

[Earlier this week, Jacqueline Marino wrote about the many words that often accompany multimedia stories on Interactive Narratives, a showcase of such work sponsored by the Online News Association. Today, she…
April 23, 2010
Jacqueline Marino
The importance of words in multimedia storytelling

The importance of words in multimedia storytelling

Journalists are told to write short for the Web. The online audience wants information, not a lovely phrase or a rousing metaphor. “On the Web, people want to move quickly,” says Hoa Loranger,…
April 21, 2010
Jacqueline Marino

Robert Darnton looks to the past to imagine future news narratives: Walter Winchell and "paragraph men"

What might life without books look like, and how will the shift to digital texts and images change news narratives? Earlier this month, Nieman Lab staffer Megan Garber wrote about…
April 20, 2010
Andrea Pitzer
NPR business reporter Adam Davidson: "many of the best stories come from wandering around a city and wondering what the hell is going on"

NPR business reporter Adam Davidson: "many of the best stories come from wandering around a city and wondering what the hell is going on"

photo credit: Jay PaulWith a lot of journalists pondering narrative in the digital era, we thought it would be interesting to highlight a March collaboration between NPR business reporter Adam…
April 16, 2010
Andrea Pitzer

Travis Fox on NPR/Frontline collaboration: "I feel like it’s a great model for the future"

We’re longtime fans of the work of video producer Travis Fox, creator of engaging Web projects combining video and interactive elements. With so many journalists pondering narrative in the digital era,…
April 16, 2010
Andrea Pitzer