ISSUE

Fall 2023

85th Anniversary Issue: The Story I Couldn't Let Go

“Stories stalk you. Stories beguile you. They bewitch you. It’s not easy to fend them off, even when you’ve vowed you will,” Susan Orlean writes in our Fall 2023 issue, which commemorates the Nieman Foundation’s 85th anniversary.

Over 400 Nieman alumni gathered at Lippmann House in October for the occasion, where during the reunion weekend, one event asked fellows to respond to a simple prompt: Tell us the story you couldn’t let go of.

Five of those stories, delivered live at the reunion, are featured in this issue. These stories have liberated low-income patients from hospital debt, landed a fellow in a Zimbabwean prison, delved into the inner workings of libraries, joined together two fellows in Ukraine, and chased down the circus of Alabama politics.

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Articles

'Stories Stalk You. Stories Beguile You'
85th Anniversary

‘Stories Stalk You. Stories Beguile You’

In the five years since the last Nieman Fellows reunion, the world has been torn by pandemic and war. Journalism had suffered too, weakened by record job cuts while called…
Ann Marie Lipinski
January 30, 2024
‘Here I Am, Please Tell Me Your Story’
85th Anniversary

‘Here I Am, Please Tell Me Your Story’

How a chance encounter led to a book about the fire at the Los Angeles Public Library.
Susan Orlean
January 29, 2024
A World Where Those with Weapons Have Absolute Authority
85th Anniversary

A World Where Those with Weapons Have Absolute Authority

When you’re covering war in your own country, the gap between you and the rest of humanity feels overwhelming.
Alisa Sopova
January 25, 2024
My Life of Chasing Big Scoops, Catching Shit, and Shoveling It for Applause
85th Anniversary

My Life of Chasing Big Scoops, Catching Shit, and Shoveling It for Applause

Between working at the circus and covering Alabama politics, I've met a lot of clowns.
John Archibald
January 24, 2024
Three Months in a Zimbabwean Prison Couldn’t Stop Me from Reporting on Corruption
85th Anniversary

Three Months in a Zimbabwean Prison Couldn’t Stop Me from Reporting on Corruption

Political elites were looting Covid relief funds, but that was just the first part of the story.
Hopewell Chin’ono
January 23, 2024
Uncovering a Hospital’s Predatory Debt-Collection Process and the Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
85th Anniversary

Uncovering a Hospital’s Predatory Debt-Collection Process and the Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.

If poverty isn’t an accident, but a robbery, then there are thieves with names that journalists can uncover.
Wendi C. Thomas
January 22, 2024
‘We Go Where We Think We Can Have The Most Impact’
Features

‘We Go Where We Think We Can Have The Most Impact’

Five lessons from successful local news startups
Celeste Katz Marston
November 27, 2023
"What comes first, being a journalist or being a citizen?" 
Sounding

“What comes first, being a journalist or being a citizen?” 

Yana Lyushnevskaya, NF '24, on the difficult dilemma Ukrainian journalists face when covering war in their own country
Yana Lyushnevskaya
November 20, 2023
Newsrooms Want to Diversify. These Programs Can Help 
Features

Newsrooms Want to Diversify. These Programs Can Help 

At a time when diversity in education is under attack, a slew of new apprenticeships are providing pathways for young journalists of color to step into the profession
Jon Marcus
November 17, 2023
A Retort to the Toxic Myth of the Self-Made in America
Niemans @ Work

A Retort to the Toxic Myth of the Self-Made in America

Alissa Quart, NF ’10, on the reporting behind her book “Bootstrapped” The dark inspiration for “Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves From the American Dream” came from the news but also from my…
Alissa Quart
November 6, 2023
What Questions Should We Be Raising in These Uncertain Times? 
Niemans @ Work

What Questions Should We Be Raising in These Uncertain Times? 

Chong-ae Lee, NF ’13, on the value of taking a step back and looking at the big picture Nearly two decades ago, I received a phone call from the news innovation…
Chong-ae Lee
November 3, 2023
“To Allow Yourself to be Seen So That You Can See Others is Very Powerful”
Live @ Lippmann

“To Allow Yourself to be Seen So That You Can See Others is Very Powerful”

Harvard Kennedy School Professor Marshall Ganz on leadership and the power of narrative for social change
October 5, 2023
‘It Was Hard to Put Words to Something So Raw and So Recent’
Interview

‘It Was Hard to Put Words to Something So Raw and So Recent’

Daily Tar Heel editor-in-chief Emmy Martin shares the story behind the paper’s viral front page
Natalie De Rosa
September 7, 2023

Masthead

Publisher
Ann Marie Lipinski
Senior Editor
Laura Colarusso
AssistAnt Editor
Natalie De Rosa
Design
Dan Zedek