By Jacqui Banaszynski A reporter friend once told me that interviewing, for him, was a “full-body sport.” His toss-off comment was a Yes! moment for me. It crystallized why, when I finished a interview, I was so drained. The … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski Work as a journalist long enough, or at least start as a journalist long enough ago, and “-30-” was a standard part of your newsroom language. It was typed at the bottom of every story I … Read more
By Laine Cibulskis As a young tween, life’s turbulence often led me to pick up my pen and write poetry. I was prolific. I filled journals upon journals and clogged my phone notes with words. I started performing, and … Read more
A recent phone conversation has me thinking about construction. Not of the firewood holder waiting in the garage to be assembled (a spare Allen wrench, anyone?). I’m thinking of construction as it applies to stories. I was contacted by an … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski I have been weary with heartache, confusion and a deep sense of “should” since Hamas waged a vicious, surprise attack on Israel Oct. 7. The heartache and confusion need no explanation. The “should?” As a journalist … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski Last week brought the sad news of the deaths of more fine journalists I’ve been graced to know. One was Jim Caple, who was one of those sports reporters who saw sports through … Read more
By Herbert Lowe In my favorite moment of the 25-minute documentary, “Reporting From the U.S. Civil Rights Trail,” one of my students is descending church steps in Alabama to do a TV standup: All eyes were on Birmingham, … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski Imagine the directive in the image above is not an end game, but a prompt. What if you added something more descriptive? Read more broadly. Read more thoughtfully. Read more openly. Or, my mantra: Read more … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski According to my pre-Wordle morning scans of social media in recent days, it’s back-to-school time. That seems awfully early to me (What happened to waiting until after Labor Day?), but my own teaching career found me … Read more
By Lauren Kessler “We’ve got a paper to get out.” That’s the matter-of-fact directive from Zoe Toperosky to a roomful of reporters and editors. She is talking through a mask in that just-loud-enough, crisply enunciated way that veteran mask-wearers … Read more
