Two journalists talk to the bots — who talk back — about the pros and...
"Once we accept that AI is flawed, we can use it responsibly, even relish in what it has to offer." ~ journalism professor Casey Frechette By Chip …
View ArticleConfessions of a flawed proofreader
The editor corrects and apologizes for a fact error, and muses on the challenges of seeing glitches in our own writing By Jacqui Banaszynski Rotten …
View ArticleA first-time war correspondent finds human stories in a devastated Ukraine
Washington Post reporter Lizzie Johnson volunteered for a Christmas-month rotation in Ukraine, where she filed intimate narratives as well as news By …
View ArticleA New York Times profile of a Ukranian sniper confronts the “myth of a ‘good...
Novelist and Vietnam veteran Karl Marlantes on the moral dilemma revealed in a story by reporter and Afghanistan veteran Thomas Gibbons-Neff EDITOR’S …
View ArticleJournalism Needs Leaders Who Know How to Run a Business | Nieman Reports
The news industry is entering a new era, and after so many failed attempts at transformation over the past two decades, we’re wrestling with the …
View ArticleGeneration #Branded
Part of Izzy Gutierrez’s job as an intern at Nashville TV station WSMV was to produce peppy Instagram reels about what happens behind the scenes at …
View ArticleHow A Handful of Court Cases Could Give the Government More Power over Social...
Social media and the ways journalists use it are facing a legal reckoning in the courts.This reckoning is easy to miss. We’re accustomed to a …
View ArticleA Moment of Deep Sorrow on the U.S.-Mexican Border | Nieman Reports
In January 2024, Pulitzer-prize winning photographer Barbara Davidson traveled from her Los Angeles home to the California-Mexico border town of …
View ArticleThe Story Behind the Execution of AP Reporter Joseph Morton During WW2
“Newshawks in Berlin: The Associated Press and Nazi Germany“ (Columbia University Press March 2024) tells the story of how the largest news wire …
View ArticleWant to Reach Gen. Z? Prioritize Young Voices | Nieman Reports
My college roommate gets her news from a talking fish on TikTok. And she’s not the only one. The “Talking Fish News” has 325,000 followers, and it is …
View ArticleIn Illinois, Two Bills Aim to Put Reporters Back into Communities | Nieman...
What makes Steve Stadelman, an Illinois state senator, so concerned about local news? It’s not just his 25-year career in local broadcast media, …
View ArticleSpotlighting Underserved Communities in Ohio | Nieman Reports
Olivera Perkins, NF ’08, is redefining the economics beat at Signal Cleveland Chillingly high inflation was still in effect when Signal Cleveland, the …
View ArticleA History of the AR-15 | Nieman Reports
Cameron McWhirter, NF ’07, on the reporting behind the book “American Gun” Zusha Elinson and I are reporters for The Wall Street Journal. He works out …
View ArticleCircling your way to a story
The editor muses on how letting your mind wander can sometimes lead to more creative insights and writing By Jacqui Banaszynski A sign of the times… …
View ArticleA 3,000-word story, 70 email questions ~ and a grateful writer
A freelancer praises the meticulous process of fact-checkers By Jyoti Madhoosoodanan (from a Facebook post) Currently in an email thread that is 70 …
View Article‘Social Media is a Crime Scene’
As one of the world’s leading experts on media manipulation and disinformation, Joan Donovan studies the darker side of the internet — online …
View ArticleSo many newsletters: Reading to learn to write to be read
The editor reflects on newsletters as a writing form and what they might teach us about various ways to engage readers By Jacqui Banaszynski I try to …
View ArticleRespecting the tortured voice and troubled choices of the mentally ill
Ellen Barry of The New York Times unspooled the heartbreaking consequences of no-great-choices for those in the mental health system By Chip …
View ArticleFollowing an unfinished story: A year in the life of a post-Roe family
After Tennessee's strict anti-abortion laws left a pregnant woman and her fetus at risk, Pro Publica stayed to chronicle failed promises of a safety …
View ArticleTrue stories embrace the dualities of life
The editor ponders the emergence of spring as a metaphor for tension inherent in life — and stories By Jacqui Banaszynski Above are a couple of spring …
View ArticleTriad ledes: The power of three to tell the story of all
The "golden mean" of philosophy, nature and art can help writers tell complex stories of issue and policy with intimacy and humanity By Jacqui …
View Article2024 Power of Narrative: Compelling stories delivered on tight deadline
How The Wall Street Journal has produced the daily narrative podcast "The Journal." for five years with focused content and a classic story …
View ArticleReverse engineering and story construction
Blueprints, patterns, schematics and other building plans provide a model for building a more effective story with less struggle A recent phone …
View Article2024 Power of Narrative: Double the power of your story with a braided structure
In a long feature story, two related or resonant threads can be woven to make a piece that is both complex and clear EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second …
View ArticleHow an old story taught new lessons about reporting trauma
A quarter-century after a catastrophic fire, a reporter returned to interview survivors and faced the grief she had carried with her By Line …
View ArticleStanding Up to Corruption and Violence | Nieman Reports
I became a journalist in 2009 for one reason: I wanted to focus my work in a field that promoted social justice. Prior to that, I was working in …
View Article2024 Power of Narrative: How to bring empathy to your reporting
Separating empathy from advocacy, and practicing it as a tool of better listening and more complete stories EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third dispatch …
View ArticleThe why, who and how of interviews
A reporter/editor/teacher recommends stepping back to take a crucial first step of thought and planning to ensure effective interviews By Jacqui …
View ArticleA time capsule of journalism’s romantic age
The editor visits the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents' Club, where the company is fascinating, the drinks are cheap and the memories are deep By …
View ArticleThe power of the pun, from Shakespeare to Walter Conrkite to Roy Peter Clark
How a bit of word play launched Clark's career as the renowned writing teacher at the Poynter Institute and author of 20 books on writing EDITOR’S …
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