ISSUE

Spring 2014

Rewriting J-School

Journalism education has come to the same ominous inflection point that journalism itself has reached—and the stakes are just as high. Universities are shutting down or proposing to shut down journalism schools, or merging them with other departments. Enrollment is falling—dramatically, for graduate programs—while it’s rising at newer institutions and those with an emphasis on digital media. Yet there are hopeful signs as educators and editors are joining forces to accomplish what neither can do so easily on their own—give students real-world reporting experiences and provide daily and in-depth news coverage.

Articles

Mosaics and Marginalia

I have lived most of my adult life out of a single suitcase, zigzagging a career through the Caucasus and the Middle East. But I had never plumbed for inspiration…
Boston Strong

Boston Strong

A year ago, I was lapping up all Harvard had to offer, from poetry criticism with Helen Vendler to economic policy with Larry Summers. Even more compelling were my fellow…
Our Man in China

Our Man in China

William Worthy, NF ’57, a foreign correspondent who fought with the U.S. government over reporting trips to China, Cuba and Iran, died at a nursing home in Massachusetts on May…
In Praise of Digital

In Praise of Digital

Since its publication in 2001, “The Elements of Journalism” has been the industry-standard text on the ethics and practice of journalism. In this edited excerpt from the third edition, published…

Covering the Home Front

I started working in the media with the hope of bringing change. My main hope was to help my people understand their rights and obligations as citizens, to monitor the…
From Chile, with Thanks

From Chile, with Thanks

My Nieman year gave me a strong sense of the truly globalized conversation in which we can all take part. When I returned to Chile, as the host of a…
Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness

Right about the time that my late husband was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer, I started obsessing on vampire novels. There I was, sitting by my husband’s bedside, pondering mortality,…
Ben Smith: The Complete Transcript

Ben Smith: The Complete Transcript

When Ben Smith joined BuzzFeed as editor in chief in 2012, the site was better known for cute cat videos and fun lists than for serious journalism. Over the past…
The Joy of Scrolling

The Joy of Scrolling

When Ben Smith joined BuzzFeed as editor in chief in 2012, the site was better known for cute cat videos and fun lists than for serious journalism. Over the past…
Missing the Story

Missing the Story

Even from a country generating waves of extreme news—accounts of Africa’s highest GDP alongside stories of terrorism—the reports of the schoolhouse kidnappings were shocking. About 300 Nigerian schoolgirls had been…
Talk to the Hand

Talk to the Hand

When a chemical spill contaminated the drinking water of hundreds of thousands of people in West Virginia in January, Charleston Gazette reporters Ken Ward and David Gutman repeatedly asked the…
Quiet Human Moments Amidst Great Strife

Quiet Human Moments Amidst Great Strife

Many years ago, I asked Anja to show me her favorite picture, the one she liked the most. The photo she sent showed an elegant older man sitting on the…
“A Sense of Exhilaration and Possibility”

“A Sense of Exhilaration and Possibility”

In December of 2011, Turkish military jets bombed the village of Uludere, about five miles from the border with Iraq, killing 34. Was the attack a tragic mistake or a…
Chasing Paper with YanukovychLeaks

Chasing Paper with YanukovychLeaks

How comics can enhance reader engagement, bring new audiences to narrative nonfiction

How comics can enhance reader engagement, bring new audiences to narrative nonfiction

Shortly after I co-founded Symbolia, a digital publication that merges comic books and journalism, I got an intriguing pitch. Reporter Sarah Mirk wanted to tell the stories of the veterans…
Form Follows Function

Form Follows Function

Form follows function. Just what that axiom means, applied to journalism, was revealed to me by a man named Carl Newton, city editor of The Atlanta Journal when I arrived…

Nurturing the Next Generation of Watchdogs

On my way into work at Medill Watchdog for the first time, I stopped at Hanig’s Shoe Store. It was February 1, 2011, part of a three-day storm in which…
Rewriting J-School

Rewriting J-School

When a handful of students show up this fall for the new media innovation graduate program at Northeastern University, they’ll learn coding, information visualization, videography, database management—even game design. The…