Personal Essays

What journalists need to know when interviewing a transgender person

A transgender activist and former journalist urges reporters to move past the bathroom question and other false stereotypes

By Bethany Grace Howe • June 24, 2021

A sign denotes a universal-access bathroom in a hotel in Durham, N.C., in 2016. North Carolina has been home to continued court battles over it's so-called

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Story Annotations

A profile gives voice to a transgender teen who is denied her full identity

Samantha Schmidt of The Washington Post follows a girl who struggles to keep her voice and newfound happiness during COVID isolation

By Trevor Pyle • June 23, 2021

Story Annotations

An early portrait of gender transition with no style guides to steer by

Lane DeGregory's profile of Maddie, published in 2002, is a study in sourcing, immersion, empathy and tone

By Madeline Bodin • June 22, 2021

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Chip Scanlan

Chip Scanlan

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Story Craft

When writing news requires a distance from neutrality to “tell it like it is”

By Roy Peter Clark
January 14, 2021

Writing guru Roy Peter Clark analyzes an "astonishing lead," and unpacks the notions of objectivity and detachment in light of current events

Narrative News

A reporter’s search for “lost history” becomes a best-selling book

By Jacqui Banaszynski
January 13, 2021

Release of "Icebound" by former Storyboard editor Andrea Pitzer is a chance to revisit the annotated narrative of her reporting journey

Narrative News

Fifty years of Robert Caro’s reporting notes going public

By Jacqui Banaszynski
January 12, 2021

The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer, famed for his meticulous reporting method, is giving a lifetime of notes to the New York Historical Society

From the Editor

Why journalists rise up in the face of fear

By Jacqui Banaszynski
January 11, 2021

A reflection on clarity and purpose: "There was only one place for me to go."

Story Annotations

Reconstructing the tragedy of COVID from the epicenter of New York City’s outbreak

By Chip Scanlan
January 7, 2021

Zooming in on a hard-hit corner of multi-cultural Queens, Dan Barry, Annie Correal and a New York Times team dared to get close and gain trust

From the Editor

Thrilling journalism in face of a terrible year

By Jacqui Banaszynski
January 5, 2021

Excellence in times that "try men's souls"

From the Editor

Passports to authentic reporting: a foreign view, and a view through empathy

By Jacqui Banaszynski
December 31, 2020

Two anchors to keep you moored wherever you are and whatever the story

One Great Moment

“The mountains on the horizon …”

By Jacqui Banaszynski
December 29, 2020

Tana French in her novel "The Searcher"

From the Editor

A very few of my favorite fiction reads of 2020

By Jacqui Banaszynski
December 24, 2020

It was a year of great journalism about hard things — and fiction that soothed along the way

From the Editor

A go-to list of how-to story craft posts from 2020

By Jacqui Banaszynski
December 23, 2020

While all Storyboard posts offer lessons from the masters of the craft, we offer a few practical stand-outs from the past year

From the Editor

Practical tools, pro survival tips and poetry led Nieman Storyboard’s top posts of 2020

December 22, 2020

The list shows a range of interests in story subjects and approaches, and a strong desire to peek behind the curtains of storywork

Personal Essays

Journalists on the screen: a conflicted image

By Christopher Borrelli
December 17, 2020

The pop culture portrayal of reporters in movies and TV mirrors and shapes public perception of the press

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