Author

A Black reporter sets off on a journey of "My Country"

A Black reporter sets off on a journey of “My Country”

It’s been just over two years since we wrote about Tyrone Beason, then a Seattle Times columnist who had fallen out of love with the city as its tech-fueled growth…
February 19, 2021
"She was delicate the way a ribbon of steel holds up its part of a bridge."

“She was delicate the way a ribbon of steel holds up its part of a bridge.”

I love that feeling when a passage promises you that a story is worth sticking with. I had this experience recently when reading Wesley Morris’ profile of the late Cicely…
February 18, 2021
Sharpen your narrative journalism skills in 2021 at these writers’ conferences

Sharpen your narrative journalism skills in 2021 at these writers’ conferences

EDITOR’S NOTE: This post was updated on June 1, 2021, with new information. Changes or additions are highlighted.If you’re feeling stalled and rusty in your writing, you’re far from alone.…
February 17, 2021
Metrics can't always or instantly measure impact

Metrics can’t always or instantly measure impact

It has become an all-too-common question, from students and young journalists and even struggling veterans: Why does this work matter if nothing changes?I could spend a lifetime of study and…
February 15, 2021
Who, How and Why? What we can learn from an interview with the Super Bowl streaker

Who, How and Why? What we can learn from an interview with the Super Bowl streaker

Curiosity grounds all good journalism. Following up on curiosity — wondering about everything, and then caring to find out — is what makes journalism soar.Lane DeGregory finds and follows stories…
February 12, 2021
"... equal was the one thing all men were not."

“… equal was the one thing all men were not.”

Clichés are a bane of original writing. Unless you turn a worn and tired cliché on its ear (I sure hope you notice what I did just there) and make…
February 10, 2021
Videos taken by Parler users from the U.S. Capitol assault tell a valuable story

Videos taken by Parler users from the U.S. Capitol assault tell a valuable story

Last week, Sen. Mitt Romney called for preserving evidence of the destruction caused by the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol “so that 150 years from now, as people…
February 9, 2021
Jumpstart your writing routine: coffee, journals, sketches and postcards

Jumpstart your writing routine: coffee, journals, sketches and postcards

I didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions this year. However, I did launch a new morning routine.Every morning I get up, make coffee, get the woodstove going, sit in my…
February 4, 2021
How the magic of mushrooms inspired magical science writing about ecology

How the magic of mushrooms inspired magical science writing about ecology

Ferris Jabr follows a forest ecologist into the woods to listen to the conversations that happen above and below ground
February 3, 2021
Five days and five senses: Free writing as a daily practice

Five days and five senses: Free writing as a daily practice

About this time every year, the stories start rolling out, urging you to reset your  New Year’s resolutions — and make them realistic. That’s because by this time, every year,…
February 2, 2021