Articles

"...the stories it told ... were not someone else’s but one larger story of which they, too, were a part."

“…the stories it told … were not someone else’s but one larger story of which they, too, were a part.”

By Jacqui BanaszynskiAs I read Celeste Ng’s most recent novel, I couldn’t help but think of George Orwell’s “1984” or Margaret Atwood’s “A Handmaid’s Tale.” Nor could I avoid echoes…
Keeping it real in a news reporting class

Keeping it real in a news reporting class

By Howard SinkerThe news reporting class I teach probably isn’t what you’d expect. The college where I teach doesn’t offer a journalism degree — and I’m good with that. My…
Auschwitz stories told by those who lived them

Auschwitz stories told by those who lived them

The director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland has collected hundreds of survivor testimonials, told with a rawness that no outsider could
Ukraine coverage: The press rises to cover a grinding war

Ukraine coverage: The press rises to cover a grinding war

By Jacqui BanaszynskiA large property sprawls on the north side of the state highway that runs from mountain cabin in the Washington Cascades to the town where I buy groceries.…
Squirrels (and newspapers) as threatened species

Squirrels (and newspapers) as threatened species

By Jacqui BanaszynskiLet’s, for a moment, consider squirrels. Stick with me. There’s a reason for this, and it has to do with things threatened and endangered.More specifically to that point,…
Courage and empathy: Winners of the 2023 American Mosaic Journalism Prize

Courage and empathy: Winners of the 2023 American Mosaic Journalism Prize

By Monique Brouillette and Jacqui BanaszynskiCongratulations to Cerise Castle and Carvell Wallace, this year’s recipients of the American Mosaic Journalism Prize. The prize was launched in 2018 by the Heising-Simons…
Jon Mooallem's narrative on the Camp Fire: "The value is in the telling"

Jon Mooallem’s narrative on the Camp Fire: “The value is in the telling”

The experienced author and magazine writer takes on the aftermath of California's biggest wildfire with insecurity and empathy
Intimate stories in abstract numbers

Intimate stories in abstract numbers

By Jacqui BanaszynskiThe details are what always hold me.The numbers matter, of course. Horrible numbers that matter horribly. I follow them as they rise. When the news of the shallow…
Who says political writing has to be boring?

Who says political writing has to be boring?

By Jacqui BanaszynskiI sat down to watch the State of the Union address this week out of a sense of obligation and, to be honest, a somewhat dark curiosity. How…
How to free your writing with free writing

How to free your writing with free writing

Timed free writing — no stopping, no correcting, no fretting — can leapfrog mental paralysis to a "shitty" but valuable first draft