Protest music can be both witness and challenge to political events, in ways similar to activist journalism. The song "Ohio" was one not of peace but rage. | Continue reading
Author Ann Patchett approaches a magzine piece about Reese Witherspoon with firm boundaries: No gossip and nothing unkind. | Continue reading
Some reflections on the challenge prsented to journalism and democracy by disinterest in news — and the things that sustain hope. | Continue reading
Pulitzer winner Robin Givhan of the Washington Post draws on keen reporting skills to cover fashion, and fashion to deliver political and cultural commentary. | Continue reading
A line or two of authority in a story as an extension of the traditoinal nut graf can add meaning to the current story and make it about more. | Continue reading
Few journalists excel at all the skills they need to do the best job. Recruiting a team of people with various specialities can elevate everyone's work. | Continue reading
Writing coach Chip Scanlan brings back "Chip on Your Shoulder," which features personal insights from name writers. | Continue reading
Putlizer Prize-winning reporter Hanna Dreier dives into a "quiet" story that presented more challenges than covering collapsed economiies and gang violence. | Continue reading
Documentary filmmaker Erin Lee Carr pushes past the easy answers that sometimes follow court cases, and probes for complexity. | Continue reading
A single verb in a nature essay changes the mood and meaning of a passage, and captures the attention of a reader. | Continue reading
Being drawn into coverage of Hurricane Katrina as a young reporter helped Ben Hochman develop skills and approaches he uses as an award-winning sports columnist. | Continue reading
n a work-related Zoom meeting recently, a colleague referred to Reddit as “lightning in a bottle.” I’m not entirely sure what that meant, despite her best efforts to explain it to my dial-up mind, but it made me want to know more about the Reddit community, and how stories flare … | Continue reading
LA Times reporter Angel Jennings has covered South LA for eight years. She leads with knowledge, listening and humanity to gain trust. | Continue reading
When a big-city journalist from the north becomes the editor of a tiny newspaper newspaper in Texas, he brings an ethic of agressive reporting and rhythmic writing | Continue reading
The tight format of news headlines and stories don't always allow for needed precision — especially with descriptors. A journalist explores the complexity of LGBTQ+ terms. | Continue reading
One word, and even the change in a different spelling of a word by one letter, can convey emotion and meaning. Serious writers learn to choose carefully. | Continue reading
A short sentence from staff at The Washington Post offers a pause in a fast-paced round-up story, and captures the import of events beyond the moment. | Continue reading
How determining the essence of your own obituary can remind you what you need to report and write about too many others who become part of the news. | Continue reading
ll news is the stuff of history. But some deserves more than a dusty archive to be stumbled upon by a research scholar. It is an immediate marker that demands be heeded for the ages. We are living in the middle of multiple waves of that kind of news now: political turmoil threate … | Continue reading
arly in my career, while working in Minnesota as a reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, I fell in love with F. Scott Fitzgerald, the city’s most famous native writer. It may have had something to do with the fact that I lived a block away from where he wrote “This Side of Par … | Continue reading
A summer guide to reading the king of horror is a reminder that good writing lessons can come from many places — and don't need to work for everyone. | Continue reading
A reporter gains access to a grocery store to see the coronavirus shutdown through the eyes of esssential workers, and shows the power of a tight narrative frame. | Continue reading
A mountain doctor volunteers at a New York hospital in the height of the coronavirus, and discovers the power of listening to and telling stories. | Continue reading
The New York Times front page naming 1,000 who died from coronavirus is not just information, but ceremony. Roy Peter Clark analyzes what makes it so. | Continue reading
The concept of "beginning with the end" in mind can help you make your way with more efficiency and success. But don't forget to stay flexible. | Continue reading
A parish priest wonders why a single line from Hemingway stirs him so. Writing teacher and scholar Roy Peter Clark offers some answers. | Continue reading
A longtime reporter who was laid off in the news industry contraction developed a passion for photography, which has helped restore his desire to write. | Continue reading
How a career journalist survived a layoff working at a national drug store chain, and used her interviewing skills to connect with anxious customers. | Continue reading
Grand plans are crucial, especially for leaders who need to ralliy people to a purpose. But those plans have to be backed up by hard work. | Continue reading
A poet and teacher of poetry had to wind up his 50th year of teaching with a virtual farewell to his students. His short message is an anthem for our times. | Continue reading
Award-winning journalist and author Walt Harrington offers a tribute to Ed Lambeth, the journalism ethicist and teacher who set him on the path to stories. | Continue reading
News deserts are spreading across America. Tim Arango of the New York Times profiles a retired widower, turned newspaper owner, who wanted better for his California mountain town. | Continue reading
What a retired widower and lifelong news junkie, turned newspaper owner, has to say about his first four months at the helm of the Mountain Messenger. | Continue reading
With sincere congratulations and gratitude, here is the full list of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize winners: 15 in journalism this year, with the addition of a new category in Audio Reporting, and 14 in letters and arts. | Continue reading
When the daily grind wears you down, it is easy to feel you've lost your skills and creative spark. The only way through is to keep working. | Continue reading
Coronavirus pandemic shut-downs left freelancers and newsroom staffers without their usual writing spaces. Several shared their make-shift solutions | Continue reading
Storyboard editor Jacqui Banaszynski urges storytellers to take notice of what's right in front of them, and capture it daily with some version of a free write. | Continue reading
A sports columnist sidelined by the delay of baseball season returns to a passion for postcards — and stretches his writing to be more conversational. | Continue reading
A freelancer and author has learned how to keep writing through life's challenges. She does wheelies with her son, but her survival tips are adaptable. | Continue reading
Much of the world has altered its pace during the coronavirus — but deadlines have not. Author and freelancer Kim Cross takes "desperation measures." | Continue reading
Award-winning science journalist Ed Yong dares to use reporting to speculate and project the future after coronavirus -- with options based on our choices. | Continue reading
A journalism teacher finds that many of the best tools still apply when reporting for narrative under the isolation of coronavirus. | Continue reading
Slate's Ruth Graham leans on her background in religion coverage and evangelical Christianity to paint a non-judgmental portrait of faith, rituals and politics. | Continue reading
Narrative scholar Roy Peter Clark argues that history is replete with narratives that scapegoat others as carriers or dangers to be feared and shunned. | Continue reading
John Prine turned a working man's sensibility and a reporter's keen eye into songs for the ages. A writer and fan offers a middle-of-the-night tribute. | Continue reading
When an editor returns to full-time reporting, he takes what he learned through the editing process — including a respect for editors. | Continue reading
Dan Barry of the New York Times reports his family's personal story to bring readers into a shared dilemma: What to do about isolated seniors in the time of coronavirus? | Continue reading
How six core story questions can help journalists find fresh approaches to any story, big or small, with examples from coronavirus coverage. | Continue reading