Articles

A reporter's search for "lost history" becomes a best-selling book

A reporter’s search for “lost history” becomes a best-selling book

Worthy books are released almost every day. No doubt more than a few authors bemoaned the publication of their hard work this past year, when so much of the world’s…
Fifty years of Robert Caro's reporting notes going public

Fifty years of Robert Caro’s reporting notes going public

Oh, to study those yellowed pages, with words pecked by a typewriter, then crossed out and scribbled over and typed on more pages. To marvel at those scrapbooks — more…
Why journalists rise up in the face of fear

Why journalists rise up in the face of fear

The email that pinged my inbox Wednesday, as an assault on the U.S. Capitol was at its most intense, was quick and blunt:“Aren’t you glad you’re not out there?”I responded…
Reconstructing the tragedy of COVID from the epicenter of New York City's outbreak

Reconstructing the tragedy of COVID from the epicenter of New York City’s outbreak

Zooming in on a hard-hit corner of multi-cultural Queens, Dan Barry, Annie Correal and a New York Times team dared to get close and gain trust
Thrilling journalism in face of a terrible year

Thrilling journalism in face of a terrible year

A version of this essay was published as the Storyboard newsletter on Jan. 1, 2020 A flip of a calendar page and, just like that, 2020 is over. Of course, it…
Passports to authentic reporting: a foreign view, and a view through empathy

Passports to authentic reporting: a foreign view, and a view through empathy

At the end of this, a year that defies easy summary, we abandon attempts to try. Instead, here are two bits of lagniappe that came our way and we pass…
"The mountains on the horizon ..."

“The mountains on the horizon …”

— Tana French in her novel "The Searcher"
A very few of my favorite fiction reads of 2020

A very few of my favorite fiction reads of 2020

It was a year of great journalism about hard things — and fiction that soothed along the way
A go-to list of how-to story craft posts from 2020

A go-to list of how-to story craft posts from 2020

While all Storyboard posts offer lessons from the masters of the craft, we offer a few practical stand-outs from the past year
Practical tools, pro survival tips and poetry led Nieman Storyboard's top posts of 2020

Practical tools, pro survival tips and poetry led Nieman Storyboard’s top posts of 2020

The list shows a range of interests in story subjects and approaches, and a strong desire to peek behind the curtains of storywork