Author

Chip Scanlan

@chipscanlan

After two decades as an award-winning journalist, Chip Scanlan taught writing at The Poynter Institute from 1994-2009. His credits include The New York Times, NPR, The Washington Post Magazine and The American Scholar; two essays were listed as notables in Best American Essays. He lives and writes in St. Petersburg, Florida, and publishes Chip’s Writing Lessons, a newsletter of tips and inspiration.

What happens to crime scene investigators who have to see the unseeable?

What happens to crime scene investigators who have to see the unseeable?

Nonfiction author Jay Kirk used time, openness and empathy for a New York Times Magazine profile of the Sandy Hook school shooting investigators
How a reporter prepped to understand A.I. and the man who helped invent it

How a reporter prepped to understand A.I. and the man who helped invent it

New Yorker Ideas Editor Joshua Rothman brushed up on algebra and spent four days on a private island to profile the "godfather" of A.I.
Respecting the tortured voice and troubled choices of the mentally ill

Respecting the tortured voice and troubled choices of the mentally ill

Ellen Barry of The New York Times unspooled the heartbreaking consequences of no-great-choices for those in the mental health system
Two journalists talk to the bots — who talk back — about the pros and pitfalls of AI

Two journalists talk to the bots — who talk back — about the pros and pitfalls of AI

"Once we accept that AI is flawed, we can use it responsibly, even relish in what it has to offer." ~ journalism professor Casey Frechette
A reporting team trekked back 50 years to explore an unsolved climbing mystery

A reporting team trekked back 50 years to explore an unsolved climbing mystery

In "Ghosts on the Glacier," John Branch and a New York Times multi-media team tell a tale with echoes of the 2012 Pulitzer-winning project "Snow Fall"
How an arts reporter unraveled a controversial and opaque family art dynasty

How an arts reporter unraveled a controversial and opaque family art dynasty

Rachel Corbett hunted back through generations of art deals, international laws and tax havens to explore suspicions about a family's hidden fortune
How a reporter documented the failure of "failure-to-protect" laws

How a reporter documented the failure of “failure-to-protect” laws

Samantha Michaels of Mother Jones followed the story of a woman given harsher punishment than the man who abused her daughter — and her
When a migrant story trail goes cold, fresh reporting finds a deeper truth

When a migrant story trail goes cold, fresh reporting finds a deeper truth

British journalist Samira Shackle likes to revisit incomplete social-issues news that is hyped, spun and incomplete to learn what really happened
Reconstructing a murky maze of blame

Reconstructing a murky maze of blame

Lauren Smiley of Wired spent four years tracking the first pedestrian fatality involving a bicyclist, Uber and a self-driving car
When a reporter is slain, another picks up the story

When a reporter is slain, another picks up the story

The Washington Post sent Lizzie Johnson to Las Vegas to continue an investigation started by Review-Journal reporter Jeff German