Chipping away at the opacity of power with David Fahrenthold
The competition to prove — or disprove — claims that former President Donald Trump made about his wealth was fierce. Of special interest were Trump’s long-denied tax returns, something all modern...
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Shout-out to 2021 News Leaders Association winners
Congratulations to winners of the 2021 NLA Awards, announced this week by the News Leaders Association (the merger of the former American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Associated Press Managing...
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Two anti-racist scholars and writers take on the cultural limits of...
As an early-career environmental journalist, I guessed that objectivity was the most important goal in the field. But as a poet finishing up an MFA at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, this kind...
View ArticleCommon-sense questions don’t always yield common-sense answers
We invite you to spend a few moments traveling the world with photographers who, despite the risks of COVID, have remained on the front lines of storytelling. For more than a year now, photographers...
View ArticleSome uncomfortable challenges facing journalism
Some core questions I have about the challenges facing journalists were revived by a few things I read last week. None were surprising, but all carried nagging concerns that date to the upheaval of the...
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Taking the “student” out of student journalist
Remember Eddy Binford-Ross? If not, here’s your chance to catch up and collect a little inspiration. Eddy Binford-Ross Eddy is a senior in South Salem High School in Oregon, and editor of the school’s...
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A narrative on the political divide reported from the inside-out
A turbulent 2020 drew to a close. Baseless claims about U.S. presidential election roiled through the ranks of Trump supporters, gaining momentum as the inauguration of a new president neared. Amid the...
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What a retired journalist learned about re-learning to write
First, the COVID lockdown. Then retirement. After nearly 40 years as a news professional and 10 as a journalism professor at the University of Idaho, I found myself isolated and bored. Acts I and II of...
View ArticleThe slogging reality of writing
The daughter of a friend reached out to me recently, seeking a bit of advice. She’s a young millennial and, after dabbling in various dabbles, she’s come back around to an early passion: Writing. Her...
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“… a fleeting fit of frustration” over the F word
Consider the curse of curse words. Some publications steer clear of them altogether. Some embrace them in whole, in part, or in different forms and different fonts. Some have found stances shifting in...
View ArticleWhat working on a farm taught a journalist about visual storytelling
EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to Field Testing, a five-part video series that takes some of the mystery out of how, when and why to add video to your storytelling. Video reporter and producer Alexander...
View ArticleHow to take your journalism to new heights with a drone
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in our five-part video series, Field Testing, in which independent video producer Alexander Trowbridge retreats to a farm to learn the tools and skills necessary for...
View ArticleErnest Hemingway’s true and lasting writing lessons
Hemingway is having a moment. Again. The eponymous documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick that has been airing and streaming on PBS — air streaming? — has exhumed the cultural conversation about the...
View ArticleEverything you need (and more) to shoot great selfie video
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third in our five-part video series, Field Testing, in which independent video producer Alexander Trowbridge retreats to a farm to learn the tools and skills necessary for...
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From city hall scoops to breaking news to profiles to narratives
Lizzie Johnson’s work covering the deadly wildfires that have scorched California in recent years has earned a place in these posts in the past. Most notable was an annotation of a piece for the San...
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How narrative moments can elevate a non-narrative story
Two foundational definitions of news are proximity and immediacy. The closer and more urgent an event or issue, the more likely it is to grab a reader’s attention. That can make it challenging to draw...
View ArticleThis mobile editing challenge proves you can produce great video anywhere
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fourth in our five-part video series, “Field Testing,” in which independent video producer Alexander Trowbridge retreats to a farm to learn the tools and skills necessary...
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What a journalist mom learns from her daughter’s foray into writing the news
My daughter Zara, who just turned 9, attended her first reporting interview as an infant, napping next to my chest in a snuggly baby wrap tied around my waist. Traci Angel, also known as Zara's mom I...
View ArticleVideo essentials, solo production and — of course — camera gear
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the last episode in our five-part video series, “Field Testing,” in which independent video producer Alexander Trowbridge retreats to a farm to learn the tools and skills...
View ArticleWriting: Nine parts mechanic, one part muse
I spent the early years of my journalism career struggling with pretty much everything about the job, but especially with the writing. The reporting was often uncomfortable as I pushed past my mother’s...
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