“Are we qualified to tell this story? Can we do it justice?” are important and clarifying questions for any journalist to ask before chasing a story. But the moral urgency that drives this gut-check was especially instructive for … Read more
How is it someone can gain such notoriety in death but have their life largely unknown? That’s what Robert Samuels wondered as he set out to profile George Floyd, and explore what Floyd’s death — and life — might … Read more
Clean copy — no typos, proper grammar, consistency of style, correct spelling — probably should be the first rule of effective pitching. Lapses in the so-called little things can undermine confidence in the big things, like thoroughness of reporting … Read more
Dave Kindred never intended to take on this project. Truth is, he didn’t even think of the Facebook posts he’s been writing as a project. But last spring, the walls began to close in on him. His wife, Cheryl, … Read more
In today’s deeply divided world – where relationships have unraveled over everything from politics to public health – Mary Schmich is a rare commodity: A columnist who can tackle the most contentious topic and still … Read more
Lou Abbott and Bud Costello’s most famous comedy sketch builds off a play on punctuation. Abbott names a baseball team’s infielders, and Who’s on first. Costello hears the period as a question mark. Confusion ensues. Read more
Some writing comes together bit by bit, a mosaic of thoughts and observations gathered over days or months or years. Slowly or suddenly, a bigger picture emerges through a confluence of details and facts. Sometimes the writer doesn’t fully … Read more
By her own admission, New York Times reporter Sui-Lee Wee doesn’t often break news out of China; her beat coverage usually follows the reporting of multiple Chinese articles about the same subject. So she pursues … Read more
It has become a common refrain in these chaotic times: We’re not just reading history; we’re living it. That’s always been true, I suppose, for anyone living at any time. But I expect historians will look back on this … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: Headlines on a story often change as the story is updated, or is published on different platforms. That apparently is what happened in a New York Times story published Nov. 4, 2020, about the mood of America on … Read more
