By Tom Warhover There’s a war on words and images out there. Book banning in schools is trending these days, supercharged with the twin engines of social media and political extremism. Banning has reached historic highs. Book challenges are … Read more
By Trevor Pyle A reader’s comment, a trove of first-hand documentation and a patient, collaborative approach. Those were three elements among many that helped Washington Post reporter Peter Jamison report and write a powerful profile of a family that … Read more
By Chip Scanlan Journalism, by its very nature, focuses on the now — the events and people making the news today. But powerful stories can be found by mining the past to add fresh material and context to what … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski As we turned the last pages of 2022, I am pondering the years past and the year ahead and the concept of writing practice. I’ve spent my professional life trading in the written word, but never … Read more
A standard — some would say ideal — approach to effective narrative nonfiction is to follow a single, primary character through an intimate journey that illuminates a larger social situation. The key is to find a person to follow … Read more
It’s no surprise to Tim Sullivan that major news outlets like CNN or his employer, the Associated Press, are taking flak from conservatives for peddling “fake news.” But he was taken aback when a colleague told him that her … Read more
Two foundational definitions of news are proximity and immediacy. The closer and more urgent an event or issue, the more likely it is to grab a reader’s attention. That can make it challenging to draw readers into stories about … Read more
A turbulent 2020 drew to a close. Baseless claims about U.S. presidential election roiled through the ranks of Trump supporters, gaining momentum as the inauguration of a new president neared. Amid the political chaos, Washington Post reporter Jose A. Read more
Growing up in California, Francesca Mari found herself in proximity to spaces that felt somewhat foreign. Decades later, her sense of story traces to her desire to understand how the world works. The 35-year-old freelance journalist grew up in … Read more
On August 23 of this year, Kenosha, Wisconsin, joined the litany of American cities beset by street protests in the wake of the police shooting of a Black man. In this case, a white police officer, responding to what … Read more