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Meanwhile, back at the ranch, part 1

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, part 1

[This four-part series on storytelling and historical narratives is based on a talk given at Vanderbilt University in February 2011.]Half a century ago, the novelist and physicist C.P. Snow wrote…
March 25, 2011

What we're reading: underground art, sleepy shrinks and killings by a CIA contractor in Pakistan

This week's installment is a grab bag, offering both comedy (a courtroom debate over what exactly a copying machine is) and tragedy (the tsunami in Japan). These stories' styles also…
March 22, 2011

"Long-form is absolutely not dead": insights from ProPublica, "Frontline," The New Yorker and "This American Life"

The New School and ProPublica co-hosted a panel on long-form journalism last night at The New School’s Tishman Auditorium in New York City. David Remnick of the The New Yorker, Ira…
March 17, 2011

The future of long-form journalism: Frontline's Aronson-Rath and ProPublica's Engelberg on multimedia collaboration

It’s always “The Future of Long-form Week” here at Nieman Storyboard, but we’re excited to note that this week, some key storytellers from different media are getting together in New York…
March 16, 2011

What we’re watching: a town washed away, satellite images and covering conflict

With Muammar Qaddafi's efforts to suppress armed rebellion in Libya and the events unleashed by the massive earthquake in Japan on Friday, it’s a wonder that those of us not involved…
March 14, 2011
David Barstow on being fair, bearing witness and “doing something bigger with the story”

David Barstow on being fair, bearing witness and “doing something bigger with the story”

We spoke this week with The New York Times' David Barstow, who wrote and helped report our latest Notable Narrative, “Deepwater Horizon’s Final Hours.” The project, a fine-grained look at…
March 11, 2011

Dissecting disaster: "nine precious minutes" on the Deepwater Horizon

Our latest Notable Narrative, “Deepwater Horizon’s Final Hours,” tracks events leading up to the inferno that destroyed a Gulf oil rig in April of 2010. This tick-tock from The New York…
March 10, 2011

What we're reading: death in all its guises

A week into March, we're eager for spring, but the narrative stories we've unearthed lately consistently offer up darker themes that go against the promise of the season. We've rounded…
March 8, 2011
Mac McClelland on scenes, narrative and sexual assault in post-quake Haiti

Mac McClelland on scenes, narrative and sexual assault in post-quake Haiti

Earlier today, we posted our second Editors’ Roundtable, in which our group of veterans examined a piece of narrative nonfiction. The story for the second outing is “Welcome to Haiti's Reconstruction…
March 3, 2011
March Editors' Roundtable: Mother Jones looks at rape in Haiti

March Editors’ Roundtable: Mother Jones looks at rape in Haiti

The narrative for discussion in the second installment of our Editors’  Roundtable is “Welcome to Haiti's Reconstruction Hell” by Mac McClelland. Appearing in Mother Jones earlier this year, the story was written after…
March 3, 2011