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How 66 days of shell art helped a retired journalist rediscover her writing voice

How 66 days of shell art helped a retired journalist rediscover her writing voice

Retired sports editor Cathy Henkel created a daily countdown to the presidential inauguration in shells and stones, and found herself telling stories
January 29, 2021
"We start with more questions than answers..."

“We start with more questions than answers…”

The retirement of newspaper editors is usually the stuff of insider industry news. Occasionally one breaks through to merit attention far more broadly.Martin Baron is one of those. The announcement…
January 27, 2021
An imperfectly perfect photo that honored content over style

An imperfectly perfect photo that honored content over style

By now, you’ve no doubt seen a few dozen — or several thousand — of the creative memes featuring Bernie’s Chair. Or is it properly thought of as Bernie’s Mittens?…
January 26, 2021
Lessons in the purpose of poetic language from a presidential inauguration

Lessons in the purpose of poetic language from a presidential inauguration

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one of two posts today analyzing the power of the presidential inaugural poem delivered Jan. 20, 2020, by Amanda Gorman, and reflecting on its place in…
January 21, 2021
America's first hip-hop inaugural poem ties history to the present, optimism to urgency

America’s first hip-hop inaugural poem ties history to the present, optimism to urgency

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one of two posts today analyzing the power of the presidential inaugural poem delivered Jan. 20, 2020, by Amanda Gorman, and reflecting on its place in…
January 21, 2021
#4 rule of pitching: Know what's come before

#4 rule of pitching: Know what’s come before

The lack of a simple clips search can tank your idea
January 20, 2021
When writing news requires a distance from neutrality to "tell it like it is"

When writing news requires a distance from neutrality to “tell it like it is”

Writing guru Roy Peter Clark analyzes an "astonishing lead," and unpacks the notions of objectivity and detachment in light of current events
January 14, 2021
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…
January 13, 2021
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…
January 12, 2021
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…
January 11, 2021