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What narrative master Eli Saslow learned about intimacy interviewing by phone
EDITOR’S NOTE: The “Voices from the Pandemic” series has been awarded a 2020 George Polk Award in Oral Histories. Eli Saslow of The Washington Post has made a name for himself as one of the best...
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How a national correspondent gained trust to cover COVID in a tiny Kansas town
Trevor Hughes likes to tell people he grew up on a dirt road next to an apple orchard in Vermont, where his parents received The Burlington Free Press every day. Hughes fell in love with the idea that...
View ArticleGo behind the scenes of four 2020 George Polk Award winners
The George Polk Awards were established 73 years ago to honor George Polk, a CBS correspondent who was killed while covering the civil war in Greece. They now rank among the most prestigious prizes for...
View ArticleWhen the story of one is the story of many
The number, when it landed, should have been no surprise. Even so, it held the power to shock. I spent a week bracing myself for news that the COVID death rate in the U.S. had hit 500,000 — leading...
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Pulitzer winner Ellen Barry solved a mystery, then questioned the mysteries...
While reporting for a story, sometimes journalists stop and wonder why they began telling the story in the first place and if it’s truly worth it. So did veteran New York Times reporter Ellen Barry, as...
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How and why Katie Engelhart followed a woman’s journey to her “final exit”
Dementia — the inexorable erosion of memory that erases the mind and eventually robs the body of its most basic abilities — is growing to epidemic levels as America ages. It brings the same fear today...
View ArticleA creative daily distraction became a journey of discovery
Daily meanderings that became ephemeral art that became a political statement that became a historical discovery tour have now become a book. A few weeks ago, retired sports editor Cathy Henkel wrote...
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An award-winning food writer explores the legacy of sexual identity in the...
For Mayukh Sen, a James Beard Award-winning food writer and adjunct professor at NYU, the entry point into food writing has always been the stories of the people behind the food. Having suffered...
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What it takes to cover a foreign country as a woman and during a pandemic
In Australia, where the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the nation’s No. 1 source of news, Anne Barker is a household name, with her stories playing across TV, radio and online. She...
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More recognition of work by freelancer Katie Engelhart
In case you missed it: Terry Gross, host of NPR’s “Fresh Air,” had a rich conversation this week (March 9, 2021) with freelance journalist and author Katie Englehart about the legal and ethical debates...
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Profiling homeless house-sitters to humanize the housing crisis in America
Growing up in California, Francesca Mari found herself in proximity to spaces that felt somewhat foreign. Decades later, her sense of story traces to her desire to understand how the world works. The...
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“… a space coffin turned shooting star.”
I‘m not sure why a New Yorker story from November 2017 showed up in my social media feed in recent days, but I’m glad it did. I’m from the generation that was raised on the romance and courage of the...
View ArticleAn emotional award for Sally Jenkins after a lifetime of awards
A lame inside joke in many of the newsrooms of America: The sports department is also referred to as “the toy department.” After all, the coverage focuses on games. Until you read more closely. Sports...
View ArticleWriting about nostalgia for homelands
Speculation runs hot these days about a return to some kind of post-pandemic normal. Among my employed journalism friends, that raises the question: When do you think you’ll go back? In this case, it...
View ArticleThe Power of Narrative: Non-fiction narrative in challenging times
The title of the 2021 Power of Narrative conference, hosted by Boston University, was more a reflection of the times than any particular theme. “In-depth Storytelling at a Safe Distance” was a virtual...
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Productive writing through a pandemic year
Pull up Roy Peter Clark’s website and you’ll see it leads with a reference to him as “America’s writing coach.” The source of that comment isn’t specified, but could likely be claimed by any number of...
View ArticleBeing in the community and bringing yourself to stories
Angel Jennings is not a native Angeleno, but since she joined the Los Angeles Times through its Metpro program 10 years ago, she has made a home in the city and at the newspaper. She recently was...
View ArticleHow covering prep sports in retirement led to a spot on “60 Minutes”
You love the games and the writing and become a sports journalist. You devote a career to that passion and the craft, writing for some of the best mastheads in the country. You write several books,...
View ArticleThe power and purpose of a writer’s voice
Are you wondering how you can break out of writing brief news items into writing longer, more engaging narrative articles? Mark Kramer, the founding director of the Power of Narrative conference,...
View ArticleHow to determine your own fate and income as a freelancer
What do you do when you are a freelancer who is frustrated by the business mysteries (and abuses) of freelancing? You start a business about the business of freelancing. That’s the quick backstory...
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