Strictly Q&A

Empathy as the prime directive in writing about displaced people

Award-winning author Jessica Goudeau says journalists must expand their toolbox to write about the growing issues of displacement

By Madeline Bodin • June 11, 2021

A Syrian woman begs in on a street in downtown Beirut in late May, 2021. The protracted situation of refugees from places like Syria and Myanmar have created a cascade of economic and humanitarian crises.

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Story Craft

Sage writing advice from the editor of Column One

Steve Padilla of the Los Angeles Times urges writers to tune up their writing with song

By Madeline Bodin • June 9, 2021

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One Great Moment

“I spent my career writing hard news. That’s me.”

By Jacqui Banaszynski
June 8, 2021

John N. Maclean in an interview about his memoiristic new book "Home Waters"

One Great Moment

“…silence so dense it became its own sound.”

By Don Nelson
May 25, 2021

From a profile of place, by Dennis Lehane in his 2017 novel, "Since We Fell."

One Great Moment

“… a fleeting fit of frustration” over the F word

By Trevor Pyle
April 27, 2021

Washington Post reporter Robert Barnes in a lead about a U.S. Supreme Court case

One Great Moment

“… a space coffin turned shooting star.”

By Jacqui Banaszynski
March 16, 2021

From a profile of Laika, the celebrated canine cosmonaut, by Alex Wellerstein in The New Yorker

One Great Moment

“She was delicate the way a ribbon of steel holds up its part of a bridge.”

By Mallary Tenore
February 18, 2021

From the obituary of Cicely Tyson by Wesley Morris of The New York Times

One Great Moment

“… equal was the one thing all men were not.”

By Jacqui Banaszynski
February 10, 2021

Rye Dolan in the novel "The Cold Millions," by Jess Walter

Narrative News

“We start with more questions than answers…”

By Jacqui Banaszynski
January 27, 2021

Washington Post executive editor Martin Baron in a retirement letter to the staff

One Great Moment

“The mountains on the horizon …”

By Jacqui Banaszynski
December 29, 2020

Tana French in her novel "The Searcher"

One Great Moment

“He was old enough to dance to a good beat but too young to know his favorite color.”

By Jacqui Banaszynski
December 11, 2020

Peter Hermann and Clarence Williams of The Washington Post, in a story about the spike in gun violence in Washington D.C.

One Great Moment

“… a common appreciation for truth.”

By Tom Warhover
November 13, 2020

Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin

One Great Moment

E Pluribus Unnerved

By Constance Hale
November 5, 2020

A fleeting headline on an Election Day story by the New York Times

One Great Moment

“His work is a parable …”

By Jacqui Banaszynski
October 28, 2020

Kurt Streeter in the New York Times, writing about Minneapolis cop and high school football coach Charles Adams

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