One the best things about writing, or any storytelling, as a career is also one of the worst: You’re never as good as you can get. Sourcing, research, interviewing, story structure, pacing — all that and more are things … Read more
Below are Nieman Storyboard’s top 10 stories, in terms of pageviews and in reverse drumroll order, for 2020. Later this week we’ll include a few of our personal favorites. 10- Navigating ethics, culture and safety … Read more
Major League Baseball, that beloved summer sport, returns to a shortened season later this month. Or at least it is scheduled to, but as with all things in the time of coronavirus, schedules are subject to change. In honor … Read more
During the 15 years that Chip Scanlan taught writing workshops at the Poynter Institute, he wrote a popular column called “Chip on Your Shoulder.” Searching Poynter’s archives takes some work, but you can find a … Read more
When looking for advice, writers shouldn’t be picky; sometimes even a fictional cannibal will serve. When NBC aired a series about Hannibal Lecter, the psychiatrist who moonlights as a serial killer — or maybe it’s the other way around … Read more
On May 23, 2020, (May 24 in print), the New York Times landed a daring and historic front page: A wash of overwhelming gray, which jumped to two more gray pages inside the print paper. To mark the deaths … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This piece is published in partnership with our friends at the Poynter Institute I was half-way through an essay on how the experience of news — especially in the midst of a pandemic — felt like a … Read more
My wife, Karen, and I happen to have for more than a decade a good Catholic pastor, Msgr. Robert Gibbons. Among his many gifts, he is a news junkie and is endlessly fascinated with language and literature. (He is … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: Gerald P. Costanzo moved his poetry class online March 10 because of coronavirus. As the semester ended, he wanted to leave his students with “something more substantial than goodbye.” We share his farewell with permission, and with our … Read more
The first year I had to work from home, it was dictated by a crisis. During a weekend visit with me and my family, my mother contracted bacterial meningitis and nearly died. In less than 48 hours, she went … Read more