Andrea Pitzer is the author of three books of narrative nonfiction that explore untold histories. She was the editor of Nieman Storyboard from 2009-2012,
Yesterday’s Storyboard post was on “Finding Dolly Freed,” an innovative approach to narrative journalism. For that story, we shared comments on the project from Tanja Aitamurto, a researcher at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland, who did a case study on Spot.Us and has a … Read more
Yesterday on the Storyboard, we looked at a new approach to narrative by focusing on Paige Williams’ self-published project “Finding Dolly Freed.” That post considered the possiblities for crowdfunded narrative journalism, but we were intrigued enough with … Read more
When a journalist in love with a story gets turned down by magazine after magazine then sells a piece only to see it killed, what’s the next step? If you’re Paige Williams, you take a page from the guerrilla journalism … Read more
A storytelling approach to science can make for bad journalism, according to a Myles Allen opinion piece that ran last month in The Guardian (UK). Writing about the theft and publication of emails from climate change researchers at the … Read more
Calling all storytellers: Is there a story you’ve been dying to do, or even trying to write, but you know you need help? If so, the Mike Levine Writers Workshop is looking for you. Did we mention it’s free? All … Read more
I talked this week with Charles Pierce about the end-of-decade summary he did for Esquire. Pierce, who also works for The Boston Globe Magazine, talks (and perhaps writes—see end of interview) faster than any human being alive today. Here, he offers … Read more
In the universe of Charles Pierce, the decade just discarded was not a keeper. It’s hard to argue otherwise, but in the hands of the unerringly unsettling Pierce, the litany of catastrophes—9/11, war, war again, Katrina, and the economic collapse—takes a … Read more
So much depends upon a stuffed Mickey Mouse lying in the debris of a bombed-out building. In a weekend post on The New York Times site, Opinionator Errol Morris takes on distinctions between art, journalism and propaganda in “ … Read more
Can less be more? The value of ignorance came up this week at the Modern Language Association’s annual conference in Philadelphia during a session titled “Literature and Journalism.” Rob Nixon, of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, talked principally about nonfiction … Read more
Photographer Francine Orr had experience reporting on poverty and humanitarian crises around the globe. But while working on “Gimme Shelter,” an audio slide show about L.A.-area homeless people living under a bridge, she found plenty to cover—and plenty to fear—right in her own back yard.
[caption id="attachment_1488" align="alignleft" width="176" caption="L.A. Times/Francine Orr"][/caption]
Orr spoke about the dangers of reporting on mentally ill addicts:
"There’s such a history of random violence along the river. Everything is okay there until it’s not, and sometimes you don’t have warning before it changes. I always had to be aware of who was standing behind me, because I didn’t want someone to smash the back of my head while I was doing my work."
And on how she views journalists' responsibilities to subjects, Orr had this to offer:
"I’m a journalist; I’m not a social worker. If I do my job well, I present the story in a truthful manner, in an accurate manner, in a somewhat compassionate manner. I leave it to the viewer, to the reader, to respond. If they feel there is a need or an injustice that requires some action, that’s their role. My role is to present the story."
Read the full interview. Read more