Nieman 80: Journalism That Makes a Difference
How are great journalists made? Often, it's pieces of great journalism that help form them, influencing their lives or careers in an indelible way. To celebrate the Nieman Foundation for Journalism's 80th anniversary in 2018, we asked Nieman Fellows to share works of journalism that in some way left a significant mark on them, their work or their beat, their country, or their culture. The result is what Nieman curator Ann Marie Lipinski calls "an accidental curriculum that has shaped generations of journalists"—a collection of 80 articles and investigations, books, photos, cartoons, podcasts, virtual reality installations, and more, works that have endured long after Niemans first read, listened, or viewed them. Niemans reflect on the 80 pieces of journalism that have influenced them most.
I have sampled a lot of virtual reality (VR) that has left me feeling confused and frustrated. Then I discovered “Notes on Blindness: Into Darkness.” It centers on the audio diaries of John Hull as he recounts his gradual loss of sight over several years. He became completely blind in 1983. A professor of religion at the University of Birmingham in England, Hull died in 2015 at the age of 80.
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More Nieman Fellows on exemplary journalism that influenced them[/sidebar]
Hull’s world is represented through visual abstraction, showing me how futile it is to attempt to accurately simulate reality. Its emphasis on the spoken word reminded me what role our imagination plays in evocative storytelling. Where there is interactivity, it is in service of the narrative.
For the first time, I saw how a VR story could draw me closer. Though blindness has always been present in my family, this project somehow helped me understand it better. For me, that qualifies it as an inspiring act of journalism.
[sidebar head="Notes on Blindness: Into Darkness" Deck="Produced by Ex Nihilo, ARTE France, and AudioGaming, in co-production with Archer’s Mark
Premiered January 2016" style="full"]
Virtual Reality
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[sidebar style="right" head="Nieman 80" deck=""]
More Nieman Fellows on exemplary journalism that influenced them[/sidebar]
Hull’s world is represented through visual abstraction, showing me how futile it is to attempt to accurately simulate reality. Its emphasis on the spoken word reminded me what role our imagination plays in evocative storytelling. Where there is interactivity, it is in service of the narrative.
For the first time, I saw how a VR story could draw me closer. Though blindness has always been present in my family, this project somehow helped me understand it better. For me, that qualifies it as an inspiring act of journalism.
[sidebar head="Notes on Blindness: Into Darkness" Deck="Produced by Ex Nihilo, ARTE France, and AudioGaming, in co-production with Archer’s Mark
Premiered January 2016" style="full"]
Virtual Reality
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