Some journalistic tenets are almost sacred, among them: The story is not about us. But sometimes, the story is. Or at least the journalist is living the same story as his or her sources and readers. That is especially … Read more
Do you remember your college commencement speaker, or anything s/he said? I had it in my head that a state legislator spoke at my high school graduation in 1970, but had to reach out to former classmates to confirm … Read more
Julia Rosen has probed the myths of America’s deepest lake, looked down on Prince William Sound from a floatplane and joined a quest to scour the Bronx … Read more
Kobe Bryant had enough championship rings for a fist, a mural bearing his image on Melrose Avenue and a history that echoes loudly in the #MeToo era. The former Lakers star’s shocking death with eight others in a helicopter … Read more
Reporters of a certain place and time — Eugene, Oregon, in the 1970s — loved to tell stories about how they were hired. At the time, the Eugene Register-Guard was considered one of the finest small-city newspapers in the … Read more
When Reuters, the venerable global news agency, hired narrative veteran Kari Howard to be its first Storytelling Editor, she brought three principles to guide reporters in the field: Examine closely. Connect with people. Don’t rush. To see those principles … Read more
When it came time to write about the 50th anniversary of man’s first walk on the moon, Charles P. Pierce jettisoned sentimentality like a booster rocket. The opening of Pierce’s July 20 Esquire column touches … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This piece was shared, with thanks and permission, by our friends at The Poynter Institute. AUTHOR’S NOTE: American author and Nobel laureate Toni Morrison died August 5, 2019, at the age of 88. I … Read more
