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 "nut case" buys a mountain town newspaper to save it

A “nut case” buys a mountain town newspaper to save it

EDITOR’S NOTE: The New York Times found the story of the savior of The Mountain Messenger worth exploring. Read our Q&A with veteran foreign correspondent Tim Arango, who says a…
May 6, 2020
Congratulations to the 2020 Pulitzer Prize winners

Congratulations to the 2020 Pulitzer Prize winners

There are awards upon awards in journalism. But since its launch in 1917, the Pulitzer Prizes have set the gold standard for newspaper reporting, writing, commentary, photography and more. The…
May 4, 2020
"How was it I had let all wonder, all curiosity, seep from me?"

“How was it I had let all wonder, all curiosity, seep from me?”

Esi EdugyanA little more than half-way through Esi Edugyan’s fine novel, we are with her protagonist at a rude boarding house in Nova Scotia. It is 1834, and Washington Black…
May 1, 2020
Take small steps to tell the big story: Make free writing a daily discipline

Take small steps to tell the big story: Make free writing a daily discipline

This column was originally published as an issue of Nieman Storyboard’s weekly newsletter. You can read back issues of the newsletter and subscribe here.Thoughts this week turn to the creativity…
April 28, 2020
How to wed personal experience and journalistic discipline

How to wed personal experience and journalistic discipline

Some journalistic tenets are almost sacred, among them: The story is not about us.But sometimes, the story is. Or at least the journalist is living the same story as his…
April 3, 2020
Six core questions to spark fresh ideas

Six core questions to spark fresh ideas

Journalism is, at core, a reactive profession. Something happens; journalists react. Then they cover the counter-reaction to the reaction, and track any consequences as they dribble out.I used to think…
April 1, 2020
What we can learn about writing and life in a graduation speech sent from a distance

What we can learn about writing and life in a graduation speech sent from a distance

Do you remember your college commencement speaker, or anything s/he said? I had it in my head that a state legislator spoke at my high school graduation in 1970, but…
March 26, 2020
Coronavirus is a reminder of this universal lesson: No experience is ours until it is

Coronavirus is a reminder of this universal lesson: No experience is ours until it is

This column was originally published as an issue of Nieman Storyboard’s weekly newsletter. You can read back issues of the newsletter and subscribe here.We read most stories from a distance…
March 6, 2020
A new science writing anthology offers lessons for any journalist covering a complex world

A new science writing anthology offers lessons for any journalist covering a complex world

While there are no dearth of journalism textbooks on the market, many skim over well-trod territory rather than dive deep into a specialty field. And those that do take that…
February 21, 2020
How writers show you the love

How writers show you the love

It’s a predictable moment: A reporter needs some relevant emotion for story, so — recorder running and notebook poised — asks: “How does it feel?”You can insert the situation of…
February 14, 2020