Articles

Here: In Etna

This is a neat topic, conducive to good scene with its unusual site, strong characters and broad reason to care: the dying practice of setting up pins by hand. Batz…

The Umpire’s Sons

We must admit we approached this piece about a father and his ill sons with a bit of weariness: another story about suffering children, death, loss. The piece is wrenching.…

Death to Blasphemers

There are many things to admire in Bearak’s collection of pieces for which he won a 2002 Pulitzer. We’ll just point out, for this piece about pre-9/11 Pakistan, his tone:…

Two Americas, Two Restaurants, One Town

Skloot explores the parallel political, cultural and gastronomic universes of two restaurants: a locally owned, eccentric bistro and a Bob Evans. We happened to read this piece not long after…

It Was the First Day of Summer 2004

Ten reporters contributed to this summer sampler with scenes from the Pittsburgh area. We like the team’s reporting for dialogue, for the senses (how could you do a piece on…

In Hunger, Cold and War, Afghans Only Find Death

Many would say that this piece is not strictly narrative, and we’d agree. But there are plenty of narrative elements in the story, and we believe they’re what make the…

Fighting for Life on Level 3

For this remarkable piece of reporting, Hallman gained first access into the ward, via the administrators, and then, more vitally, access into the “hearts and minds” of the nurses. Hallman…

A Thousand Words? This Stash is Worth a Trillion

This is a story about an enormous collection of pictures. A man started the collection and marketed it as a service to graphic artists and others who needed visual inspiration.…

Black Hawk Down

We found the level of action detail in this gruesome series remarkable: Bowden traces what happened when—who got shot where, shrieked, said what, shot whom, with what—with striking clarity. We…

Forest Haven Is Gone, But the Agony Remains

This piece uses narrative to turn what could have been a distanced roster of wrongs into a more compelling, close story about individuals’ suffering. Vivid narrative makes good investigative work…