From the Editor

The education of a journalism contest judge

The education of a journalism contest judge

If you’ve never judged a journalism contest, I urge you to raise your hand. The work can be blistering: Dozens of stories to read, tight delivery deadlines, clumsy online access.…
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…
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,…
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,…
The multiplier effect of one good teacher

The multiplier effect of one good teacher

You know those pin-dot graphics that the data dudes produce that show how things are both clustered and connected? Things like who uses Twitter, or COVID rates in red- and…
Writing that dares to sing

Writing that dares to sing

In the mood for a musical interlude — one that doesn’t involve the endless loop of holiday classics? Consider “The Beatles: Get Back,” running now on Disney+. (Don’t have Disney+? Find…
The spiraling nature of news

The spiraling nature of news

The news just never takes a rest, does it? Or maybe it’s a variation on the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, aka frequency bias: Once you’ve tapped into a certain story, related stories…
Stumbling into a social media community

Stumbling into a social media community

A few words on social media. I’m not going to get mired in the meta-mess that is Meta, the New&Never Improved Facebook. That’s well-trod territory. I admire and envy friends…
Collected reflections on John Hersey's "Hiroshima"

Collected reflections on John Hersey’s “Hiroshima”

Today is the 76th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. That’s not a notable number in the rather arbitrary realm of anniversary stories. But the event itself just seems to…
The journalistic dangers of binary thinking

The journalistic dangers of binary thinking

Meet Bethany Grace Howe, above. I met her a little over 10 years ago when she came to the Missouri School of Journalism as a nontraditional graduate student. “Nontraditional” essentially…