ISSUE

Fall 2000

Photojournalism: Pondering the Power of Images and the Risks Taken by Those Who Make Them

James Nachtwey’s book “Inferno” is a collection of 382 photographs depicting the horrific brutality and suffering of people who are entrapped by war, famine or political unrest. Its publication offers an opportunity to reflect not only on his extraordinary and courageous career as a photojournalist but on how, in this time of visual onslaught, images such as these are absorbed and their messages acted upon.

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Articles

Journalist’s Trade

The False Dichotomy and Narrative Journalism

‘Good writing and good reporting reinforce each other. Period.’
Roy Peter Clark
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

Exploring Relationships Across Racial Lines

Narrative was the vehicle selected for this reporting journey.
Gerald Boyd
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

Combining Narrative With Analysis

By grounding stories in a broader context, their messages are better understood.
Laura Sessions Stepp
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

Narrative Journalism Goes Multimedia

On the Web, ‘Black Hawk Down’ enhanced its credibility and the readers’ experience.
Mark Bowden
September 15, 2000
Visual Journalism

Do Images of War Need Justification?

No. Imparting information ought to be enough.
Philip Caputo
September 15, 2000
Visual Journalism

Photographers Can’t Hide Behind Their Cameras

Images of war are raw, dirty, ugly, personal and disturbing. And they ought to be.
Steve Northup
September 15, 2000
Visual Journalism

The Unbearable Weight of Witness

Vivid images of war and famine make human misery impossible to ignore.
Michele McDonald
September 15, 2000
Visual Journalism

James Nachtwey Photographs

A Hutu man who did not support the genocide had been imprisoned in a concentration camp, starved, and attacked with machetes. He managed to survive, and after he was freed…
James Nachtwey
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

Fall 2000: Narrative Journalism Introduction

Mark Kramer, who directs a narrative journalism conference each year at Boston University, opens our series of articles by asserting that “narrative writing is returning to newspapers.” The reasons are…
Melissa Ludtke
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

Me and the System: The Personal Essay and Health Policy

A new section called “Narrative Matters” began appearing last summer in Health Affairs, a bimonthly policy journal. As Founding Editor John K. Iglehart wrote, “I never regarded publishing material that…
Fitzhugh Mullan
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

Literary Nonfiction Constructs a Narrative Foundation

In college classes, students read great storytellers and learn how to tell a story.
Madeleine Blais
September 15, 2000
Opinion

Harper’s Magazine: A Survivor!

An American AlbumOne Hundred and Fifty Years of Harper’s MagazineEdited by Lewis Lapham and Ellen RosenbushFranklin Square Press. 712 Pages. $50.The crowded racks on newsstands and the torrent of junk…
Robert Manning
September 15, 2000
Opinion

An Indictment of the Washington Press

Two journalists give thumbs down to coverage of the Clinton scandals.
Michael Gartner
September 15, 2000
Opinion

Dead Men Talking

Chicago Tribune reporters highlight fault lines in the justice system.
Ken Armstrong
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

Narrative Storytelling in a Drive-By Medium

A local television reporter finds ways to go beyond the usual coverage.
Carolyn Mungo
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

Has the Camera’s Eye Replaced the Writer’s Descriptive Hand?

An editor laments the demise of the narrative. And welcomes its return.
Michael Kelly
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

Sticky Storytelling

‘I want to create a pattern that is instinctively unfamiliar….’
Robert Krulwich
September 15, 2000
Visual Journalism

Fall 2000: Photojournalism Introduction

James Nachtwey’s book “Inferno” is a collection of 382 photographs depicting the horrific brutality and suffering of people who are entrapped by war, famine or political unrest. Its publication offers…
Melissa Ludtke
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

Lulling Viewers Into a State of Complicity

‘The approach of a storyteller seemed more apt….’
Ted Koppel
September 15, 2000
Visual Journalism

Dying to Get the Story

A journalist reflects on which risks are necessary.
Mary Kay Magistad
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

The Perils of Lunch With Sharon Stone

When the Five W’s aren’t appetizing, some reporters stir in a bit of fiction.
Anthony DeCurtis
September 15, 2000
International Journalism

Journalism in Transition in South Africa

For black journalists, the threat is their conscience.
Mathatha Tsedu
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

Weaving Storytelling Into Breaking News

‘A little bit of narrative, like sugar, just makes everything better.’
Rick Bragg
September 15, 2000
From the Curator

The Nieman Foundation’s Unfinished Business

On my first morning in Lippmann House, I was given a thick green folder with lots of information to be quickly absorbed. Inside was a memo from Bill Kovach addressed…
Bob Giles
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

The Verdict Is in the 112th Paragraph

In a narrative serial of a murder trial, news is differently defined.
Thomas French
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

The State of Narrative Nonfiction Writing

On May 6, 2000, the Nieman Foundation and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism convened a panel of journalists to discuss narrative journalism. This event occurred during a two-day conference…
Robert Vare
September 15, 2000
Opinion

Fall 2000: Words & Reflections Introduction

The death penalty is under the journalistic microscope. Scrutiny of prosecutions and court procedures, along with new testing of DNA evidence, is illuminating ways in which the legal system—from the…
Melissa Ludtke
September 15, 2000
Visual Journalism

Journalists Learn How to Protect Themselves in War

At a May 2000 conference called “The World of Conflict,” co-sponsored by The Crimes of War Project and The Freedom Forum, former soldiers who now teach journalists how to assess…
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

Talking About Narrative Journalism

Jack Hart [writing coach for The Oregonian]: We ran a narrative series last week about a basketball coach and his problems with crack cocaine. My girlfriend was at a meeting…
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

Narrative Journalism Comes of Age

Some find it hard to accept. Others embrace it.
Mark Kramer
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

‘Narrative Writing Looked Easy.’

It wasn’t, but with help the writer used French fries to explain Asia’s financial crisis.
Richard Read
September 15, 2000
Opinion

Freelancers Confront New Challenges

In a contract battle, many argue their work shouldn’t be used for free.
Anne Driscoll
September 15, 2000
Opinion

Can Journalism Be Fair?

‘If truth is whatever works for you, there is no need for journalism.’
Philip Meyer
September 15, 2000
Visual Journalism

‘Basically We’re Alone. Left Up to Our Own Wits.’

War photographers describe what it’s like to do their jobs.
War Photographers
September 15, 2000
Journalist’s Trade

‘Just Write What Happened.’

Imposing a narrative structure doesn’t always work.
William F. Woo
September 15, 2000
Visual Journalism

The Perils of Growing Comfortable With Evil

The lynching of Jesse Washington, May 16, 1916, in Robinson, Texas. From the exhibition “Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America.” Photo courtesy of The New-York Historical Society.April 9, 2000 The…
Brent Staples
September 15, 2000
International Journalism

Fall 2000: International Journalism Introduction

Africa is the focus of this issue’s international journalism section. It is a continent too often ignored by Western media and a place where in too many countries those who…
Melissa Ludtke
September 15, 2000
International Journalism

From Darkness Into Blinding Glare

What does it take to get the press to shine its searchlight in distant places?
Susan Moeller
September 15, 2000
International Journalism

Coverage of AIDS in Africa: The media are silent no longer.

If you had to plan an AIDS conference and you wanted to command the world’s attention, you might have chosen the city of Durban in the South African province of…
Susan Moeller
September 15, 2000
International Journalism

Coverage of AIDS in Africa: The media are silent no longer.

If you had to plan an AIDS conference and you wanted to command the world’s attention, you might have chosen the city of Durban in the South African province of…
Susan Moeller
September 15, 2000
International Journalism

Top 10 Underreported Humanitarian Stories

In December 1999, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières issued its second annual top 10 list of underreported humanitarian stories. Doctors Without Borders compiles this list to call attention to stories…
Doctors Without Borders
September 15, 2000
International Journalism

Lessons Learned in Africa

A reporter replays history so past mistakes don’t become future policy.
Wilson Wanene
September 15, 2000
International Journalism

In Zimbabwe, the Independent Press Struggles to Survive

Legal maneuvers and financial hard times challenge press freedom.
David Karanja
September 15, 2000
International Journalism

Imprisonment and Torture of Journalists in Zimbabwe

Eventually the courts ruled the law that jailed them was unconstitutional.
Mark G. Chavunduka
September 15, 2000
Opinion

Questions Crime Reporters Sometimes Forget to Ask

In murder cases, the ‘easy story’ to report might be profoundly wrong.
John Painter Jr.
September 15, 2000
International Journalism

A Story of Courage in South African Journalism

Blacks accepted the white-owned Rand Daily Mail as their champion.
Dennis Cruywagen
September 15, 2000
Nieman Notes

Howard Simons’ Legacy Lives On

Scholarships for minority journalism students bear his name.
Marcia Slacum Greene
September 15, 2000
Nieman Notes

Reading Between the Lions

We had just finished up work on a film tracking a homeless couple over five years of their remarkable and disturbing lives. The resulting documentary won a bucketful of awards…
Judith Stoia
September 15, 2000