Articles

Four questions mine for bottomless wisdom

Four questions mine for bottomless wisdom

During the 15 years that Chip Scanlan taught writing workshops at the Poynter Institute, he wrote a popular column called “Chip on Your Shoulder.” Searching Poynter’s archives takes some work,…
July 10, 2020
Jacqui Banaszynski
Navigating ethics, culture and safety to immerse in immigration and Covid

Navigating ethics, culture and safety to immerse in immigration and Covid

At first glance, there are few frills or fireworks in “Tatiana’s Luck,” Hannah Dreier ‘s profile of an immigrant living in a crowded New Jersey house stalked by COVID-19. In the…
July 8, 2020
Trevor Pyle
Rejecting the simplified news narrative

Rejecting the simplified news narrative

While reading the news in 2017, filmmaker Erin Lee Carr first saw the “very wide, intense eyes” of Michelle Carter. She looked like a “deer in headlights,” Carr said. At the time, Carter was on trial in Massachussetts on charges of…
July 2, 2020
Kristen Chin
"His conversation is so delightfully sauced ..."

“His conversation is so delightfully sauced …”

It was the verb in this sentence in “Braiding Sweetgrass,” a reissued book of nature essays by Robin Wall Kimmerer, that captivated me. It’s a strong, active verb, so the sentence leaps where similar descriptions stroll. The…
July 1, 2020
Madeline Bodin
What crisis reporting can teach about better sports reporting

What crisis reporting can teach about better sports reporting

Most 20-something sports journalists don’t find themselves covering something as raw and emotional as the aftermath of one of the deadliest natural disasters in American history. But here was Benjamin Hochman, sitting in the lobby of the Doubletree hotel in Dallas with…
June 30, 2020
Reid Glenn
"Violence of the light miraculous."

“Violence of the light miraculous.”

In a work-related Zoom meeting recently, a colleague referred to Reddit as “lightning in a bottle.” I’m not entirely sure what that meant, despite her best efforts to explain it…
June 26, 2020
Jacqui Banaszynski
Reporting the emotionally sensitive story through trauma and physical distance

Reporting the emotionally sensitive story through trauma and physical distance

As a reporter for the Metro section of the Los Angeles Times, Angel Jennings explores issues affecting residents in South Los Angeles. Throughout 2019, she was one of the primary bylines…
June 25, 2020
Rachael L. Kelley
The route to a Pulitzer in opinion writing: rigorous reporting

The route to a Pulitzer in opinion writing: rigorous reporting

It’s unlikely there was much money riding on Jeff Gerritt to win the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing. His newspaper, the Palestine Herald-Press in Texas is tiny: daily circulation…
June 24, 2020
Madeline Bodin
The challenge of precision: As descriptors evolve, the press must be clear

The challenge of precision: As descriptors evolve, the press must be clear

 The U.S. Supreme Court this week (June 17, 2020) ruled that the Civil Rights act of 1964  prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, which the majority said…
June 18, 2020
Patrick Garvin
"Words are living things. They have personality, point of view, agenda."

“Words are living things. They have personality, point of view, agenda.”

 When looking for advice, writers shouldn’t be picky; sometimes even a fictional cannibal will serve.When NBC aired a series about Hannibal Lecter, the psychiatrist who moonlights as a serial killer…
June 16, 2020
Trevor Pyle