Jacqui Banaszynski retired as the endowed Knight Chair in Editing at the Missouri School of Journalism in 2017, is editor at Nieman Storyboard, and a faculty fellow at the Poynter Institute. She won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in feature writing for “AIDS in the Heartland,” a series about a gay farm couple facing AIDS, and was a finalist for the 1986 Pulitzer in international reporting for her account of the sub-Saharan famine.
By Jacqui Banaszynski The gratitude essay I wrote recentlyhas given back in multiples — which is how gratitude is supposed to work. I’ve received several lovely notes in response, including one from a non-writer who … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski The primary New York Times obit of Henry Kissinger listed it as a “38 MIN READ.” I checked the clock, my to-do list and my energy level. Then I bookmarked the obit for … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski Gratitude is hot. Researchers study its benefits on health, happiness and longevity. Therapists teach it as a grounding activity that puts anxiety in perspective. Philosophers write all manner of homages to its value throughout human history. Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski On Wednesday last week, I had a plan for the newsletter: All manner of tidbits were collecting in a file and it was time to use the best of them in an “items” column. On Thursday morning, … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski According to the adage, people don’t regret the things they did in life — only those they didn’t. I don’t buy it — anymore than I buy the assurance that if we do what we love, … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski No future for narrative? No support for longer pieces? No value in for print? The folks at The Guardian bravely beg to differ — and bully to them for that. As our sister publication, Nieman Lab, … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski Clichés are to good writing as fill in your preferred cliché here. A student of mine once challenged that notion. She insisted that clichés are a good thing: They are a universal shorthand — a way … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski Whenever someone asks if they could tap me as an editor to help them with a project, I start with a direct question: What do you mean by “editor?” Many seem baffled by that question. No … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski The question has confronted me more frequently, its challenge heated by the contraction of newsrooms, rise of mis- and disinformation, indifference to facts, intransigence of opinion and a depressing distrust of the legitimate press. That question, … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski Jet lag clawed at me for days after getting home from writing workshops in Romania. My return flights involved cancellations, delays, the demand to check a bag I have always carried on and a broken seat … Read more
