Author

Tom Warhover

@warhovert

Tom Warhover is an associate professor at the Missouri School of Journalism, teaching reporting, fact-checking and journalism semantics. He was an editor and reporter for 32 years at the Virginian-Pilot and the Columbia Missourian.

Reporting past the black-and-white politics of school book bans

Reporting past the black-and-white politics of school book bans

Education reporter Hannah Natanson profiled a teacher facing a divided classroom as part of the Washington Post's "School Book Wars" series
December 6, 2023
Epic history that inspired epic storytelling

Epic history that inspired epic storytelling

At the end of each semester, after all the discussions of craft, I remind my reporting students at the Missouri School of Journalism the why of it all: the larger…
January 4, 2022
"His name was Zaki Anwari ..."

“His name was Zaki Anwari …”

Writers usually stuff facts in dispatches from the front or the cop shop or the accident scene. All those W’s and H’s, jammed together.Generally, the formula works. But individual facts,…
August 25, 2021
“... a common appreciation for truth.”

“… a common appreciation for truth.”

Lou Abbott and Bud Costello’s most famous comedy sketch builds off a play on punctuation. Abbott names a baseball team’s infielders, and Who’s on first. Costello hears the period as…
November 13, 2020
Writing the character, contradictions and soul of a place

Writing the character, contradictions and soul of a place

America’s quadrennial obsession with Iowa has passed like the season’s last snow storm, there for a turbulent moment but forgotten three days later. The nail-biting over bad election apps and…
March 24, 2020
"How dare you..."

“How dare you…”

After you watch Greta Thunberg’s speech a second or third time, after your heart rate slows, after your guilt subsides (a bit) — read the transcript.Franklin Foer of The Atlantic…
September 27, 2019
Yes, everyone, there is a reason to believe ...

Yes, everyone, there is a reason to believe …

Dear Reader,As the holiday weekend approached, a newspaper friend asked me why, as editor of a community newspaper, I reprinted the editorial “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” on…
December 25, 2018
An alligator attack sparks a Facebook attack – and an invitation to reconsider meanness

An alligator attack sparks a Facebook attack – and an invitation to reconsider meanness

 I sat on a bench with Wade Livingston the other day. We talked about an alligator attack, a woman who drowned, and the people who saw fit to condemn her for the audacity…
September 13, 2018

“Gary Robinson died hungry.”

Why is it great? My mentor Ron Speer of the Virginian-Pilot liked the opening line of the Bible for Greatest Short Lede Ever. I go with Buchanan. I’m hooked with four words.…
July 21, 2018