From the Editor

For the love of the (story) game

The editor reflects on what she learned about reporting and writing narrative from reading and covering sports

By Jacqui Banaszynski • September 26, 2023

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Short Takes

How to write boring wonk

A freelancer laments an editor's directive against compelling copy

By Jacqui Banaszynski • September 19, 2023

Personal Essays

Four girls, 60 years, 11 students, 2,800 miles and a new awareness of history

A journalist-turned-teacher takes students on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail to explore the nation's challenges through a journalistic lens

By Herbert Lowe • September 15, 2023

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Narrative News

Honor due reporter, editor and Nieman curator Robert H. Giles, 1933-2023

By Jacqui Banaszynski
August 17, 2023

The journalist's career shepherded coverage through the Vietnam War, civil rights, gay and women's rights, and a changing newspaper industry

From the Editor

J-school beyond the textbook

By Jacqui Banaszynski
August 17, 2023

The editor cites a few teaching resources that are all around — and free

Why's This So Good?

A profile of rival athletic greats becomes an exploration of a great friendship

By Dale Keiger
August 10, 2023

Washington Post sports columnist Sally Jenkins aces an off-court story about Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, competition, cancer, battles and bonds

From the Editor

Helping each other navigate obscure records and obdurate sources

By Jacqui Banaszynski
August 8, 2023

The editor reflects on the need for journalists to support and learn from each other to defend and serve the public's right to know

From the Editor

Back-seat story magic

By Jacqui Banaszynski
August 2, 2023

How 90 minutes stuck in traffic yielded a story about the economy, culture, tradition and family love

Personal Essays

The (should-be-easy) interview a veteran interviewer couldn’t bring himself to do

By Michael Ollove
July 28, 2023

A reporter sat with people in "the worst moments of their lives" but froze when it came time to talk to a famous writer

One Great Moment

“Are you writing this down?”

By Polly Basore Wenzl
July 26, 2023

An 11-year-old in Wichita, Kansas, challenging a journalist

From the Editor

Making prison stories relevant and relatable

By Jacqui Banaszynski
July 25, 2023

The editor considers what draws some journalists to prison-based stories or programs, and what we can learn from them

Personal Essays

What a prison writing program taught a professional writer from the inside out

By Lauren Kessler
July 20, 2023

Journalist and nonfiction author Lauren Kessler spent three years teaching — and learning from — men who wrote their stories behind bars

Story Annotations

How a reporter documented the failure of “failure-to-protect” laws

By Chip Scanlan
July 19, 2023

Samantha Michaels of Mother Jones followed the story of a woman given harsher punishment than the man who abused her daughter — and her

From the Editor

Staying cool in the face of heated criticism

By Jacqui Banaszynski
July 18, 2023

Journalists not only need to remain independent of faction, but unwavering in the face of partisan screeds

Story Annotations

A collaboration through nine months, 14,000 words, 36 chapters and a “leap of faith”

By Carly Stern
July 14, 2023

‘We were taking a big leap of faith and trusting readers to be able to figure it out themselves,’ says investigative reporter Raquel Rutledge

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