Search results for “context”

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Can a soundtrack ease you through a story?

Can a soundtrack ease you through a story?

A key character in a story I was struggling with was a woman with a broken heart. She’d been cheated on by the man she had married, but continued to…
February 21, 2019
"I’m thinking longer term, in geologic time, doing just what I can each day and not putting it off because it won’t be brilliant."

“I’m thinking longer term, in geologic time, doing just what I can each day and not putting it off because it won’t be brilliant.”

When I encountered this sentence, I took it personally. I like being brilliant. I like it so much that I don’t write as much as I should. It’s uncomfortable to…
February 20, 2019
A nutcracker suite: How top journalists interpret the dance of the nut graf

A nutcracker suite: How top journalists interpret the dance of the nut graf

Editor’s note: We’re looking at the never-ending debate over what is called, in journalese, the “nut graf” — that so-what paragraph or section that pulls out of the news or…
February 1, 2019
A nut graf by any other name might taste sweeter ~ and be more digestible

A nut graf by any other name might taste sweeter ~ and be more digestible

A defense of the summary nut as it is used in variations by Ken Burns, the Beatles and Shakespeare
January 31, 2019
Nut grafs: Overused, misused — or merely misunderstood?

Nut grafs: Overused, misused — or merely misunderstood?

When a summary nut beeps like the back-up horn on a truck or blinds like a searchlight, it can ruin the magic of a narrative
January 30, 2019
From a Kickstarter about avocados to conviction as an American spy

From a Kickstarter about avocados to conviction as an American spy

Jason Rezaian’s twin allegiances were baked into his life and his journalism. He was born and raised in Marin County, California, the son of an Iranian father and American mother.…
January 22, 2019
Newsroom Ode #3: The last desk of defense

Newsroom Ode #3: The last desk of defense

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third of a series of odes that chronicle the legacy newsroom. Each is written from different first-person perspective. Together they create the mumbled narrative of a…
January 21, 2019
"There's a story he's waiting for, long before he comes across it."

“There’s a story he’s waiting for, long before he comes across it.”

In the original context of “The Overstory,” this sentence applies to a young man — a teenager, actually — who tumbles into the little-known language of coding and programming in…
January 16, 2019
An annotated project that "breaks the 'rules' in all the right ways"

An annotated project that “breaks the ‘rules’ in all the right ways”

EDITOR’S NOTE: While we did not annotate this project by ProPublica Illinois, we are including it in “Annotation Tuesday” because the story itself, as published, was an innovative example of…
January 15, 2019
Newsroom Ode #2: Making story hay whether the sun shines or not

Newsroom Ode #2: Making story hay whether the sun shines or not

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second of a series of odes that chronicle the legacy newsroom. Each is written from different first-person perspective. Together they create the mumbled narrative of a…
January 14, 2019