The first death reported from Covid-19 in the U.S. occurred about 30 miles from where I read about it, at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, on the last day of February 2020. I was on my way home to New … Read more
Back in October of last year, seven months into the pandemic, life in Delaware, Ohio, a fast-growing exurb outside Columbus, wasn’t exactly normal, but it sure seemed close. A few weeks before the presidential election, maskless people strolled through the … Read more
Every Tuesday and Thursday, back around 2002, I would wrap my son in warm clothes and tuck him into a covered car seat. Only his little face would be showing as I’d snap the seat out of its base after … Read more
By now, those of us working in news media know what online violence looks like. It manifests as sexist abuse, threats to life and limb, doxing and trolling. Recent well publicized incidents include attacks against New York Times … Read more
We were on a Zoom family call for my uncle’s birthday attended by dozens of relatives around the world – India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Australia, USA. “Did you see the latest Nieman Reports?” asked Zawwar Hasan, … Read more
Before the pandemic, I hoped to conduct a research project on the media consumption of kids ages 5 to 7, not knowing that soon a significant portion of their lives would happen online due to the coronavirus. Read more
The urgency for solutions to the continuing erosion of local, legacy journalism grows greater by the day. And yet the challenge to create new newsrooms with a fighting chance at sustainability is as great as ever, too. The problem stems … Read more
At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, I was followed into my newsrooms’ building in downtown Washington, D.C. by a man who called me a “dirty bitch with the flu.” My experience is one example of many across the country … Read more
With the passage of the $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill, Washington is not only providing help to families, schools, states, and local government; it is throwing a lifeline to the imperiled local news business as well. The … Read more
Should a single mistake define you for the rest of your life? That’s the central question behind “Fresh Start,” a new initiative at The Boston Globe where we allow people named in older stories to appeal their … Read more
