Even the most dramatic news about the journalism is seldom a surprise. Budgets are cut. Awards are given. Veterans retire or are bought out. Book contracts are signed. But collecting a sampling and studying what came before can offer … Read more
As federal law enforcement officers descended on Portland, Oregon, last month and clashed with protesters demanding an end to police brutality, Eddy Binford-Ross — who lives in Salem, about 45 minutes south of Portland — rushed to the scene. 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
EDITOR’S NOTE: This essay first appeared in The Cabin, a center for writers in Idaho. It is used with permission. Also, read Kim Cross’s Writer’s Survival Guide: Tips for defying distraction. On … 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
Come the close of any calendar year, and look-back pieces are as common as failed New Year resolutions. At the close of a decade — even more. So when one rises out of the scrum and provides both something … Read more
Hang out at a journalism workshop, anywhere in the world, and inevitably the subject comes up: We’re being asked to produce more and more, in less and less time. It was no different when I was in Helsinki a … Read more
Two days to deadline. You haven’t written a word — just scribbles and a few sad-faced glyphs in the margins of a skeletal outline. You’re surrounded by great raw material —a tower of notes, a transcribed interview, and three … Read more
“Pittsburgh. El Paso. San Bernardino. Las Vegas. Aurora. Orlando. Sandy Hook. Isla Vista. Gilroy. Colorado Springs.” David Montero’s voice trails off. “I just feel like there are obvious ones I’m missing. It’s been a lot…” If Montero stumbles as … Read more
By early August of this year, 253 American cities had been added to the map of mass shootings. For a day or two after yet another event, officials in these communities — police and politicians — rise to prominence … Read more
