Author

Jacqui Banaszynski

@JacquiB

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.

A citizen-journalist's effort to follow events in Ukraine

A citizen-journalist’s effort to follow events in Ukraine

Time and attention in recent days have gone to friends and former students in Ukraine, asking what the rest of us, as journalists and citizens, should know, how best to…
Reading fiction through the filter of current events

Reading fiction through the filter of current events

Who we are when we encounter a story can have a lot to do with how we engage with that story and what meaning we take from it. Our age,…
The battle for Ukraine is also a battle for sustained attention

The battle for Ukraine is also a battle for sustained attention

EDITOR’S NOTE: This essay is excerpted from a Storyboard newsletter originally published Friday, Feb. 25, 2022 Just one day into the madness being visited upon Ukraine,…
What personal pain reminded two writers about the gift listening

What personal pain reminded two writers about the gift listening

The longer I dwell in the world, the more I believe our greatest values, as human beings and as journalists, come through empathy and listening. Also, alas, our greatest failures.…
When writing sparks writing

When writing sparks writing

Earlier this month, we posted a short “One Great Moment” piece on a dazzling line of dialog from the new-this-season Netflix movie “A Boy Called Christmas.” Dame Maggie Smith is…
The wisdom of babes, the sounds of music, and tasty stories to chew on

The wisdom of babes, the sounds of music, and tasty stories to chew on

It would have been easy but discouraging to spend an entire year of Storyboard featuring stories about homelessness, climate woes and, of course, COVID-19. It would be tempting to identify…
The peak posts of 2021: Hemingway, sensitive sourcing and self-editing

The peak posts of 2021: Hemingway, sensitive sourcing and self-editing

Another year, another trove of excellent journalism — so much that I’ve given up on keeping up. I take some comfort in that as our profession continues to struggle with…
Solstice stories

Solstice stories

Hanukkah came early this year. Christmas is on the near horizon, with Kwanzaa a day later. Other cultures have other traditions this time of year, some religious,…
Triple muses: a lake, a children's book and a long shower

Triple muses: a lake, a children’s book and a long shower

Bayfield, Wisconsin, is a charming little village, population 500 or so, that sits on the northernmost peninsula of the state, along the southern shore of Lake Superior. It looks out…
"... sequestered neighborhoods and old hates that die hard or leave a residue ..."

“… sequestered neighborhoods and old hates that die hard or leave a residue …”

News that the United States now counts 800,000-plus deaths from COVID-19 — more than reported in any country in the world — made headlines earlier this week. The worldwide number…