I can close my eyes and still see the classic W. Eugene Smith portrait of the mother bathing her daughter who was deformed by mercury poisoning in Minamata, Japan. It is forever seared into my soul. Nieman 80 … Read more
When I read “Murder Comes for the Bishop” by Francisco Goldman, I was 22 and in my first year as a journalist. The criminal investigation and the trial following the murder of Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera contained … Read more
Edward Wong, NF ’18 Sometime in my 20s, when I was starting out as a reporter, I read two collections of Joan Didion’s early articles and essays. They changed the way I thought about journalism. Here were pieces … Read more
It was the mid-’60s and I was in college and a guy I had never heard of—an alumnus of my college [Washington and Lee University] as it happened—was coming to speak. He was a journalist from New York. I was … Read more
When “Khrushchev Remembers” first appeared in Life magazine and as a Little, Brown book, in 1970, about five years after he was ousted from power and forced to live 20 miles outside Moscow in a fenced-in compound, the articles and … Read more
Nieman 80 More Nieman Fellows on exemplary journalism that influenced them A newly minted college grad, in 1970, I happened to catch a rerun of “Harvest of Shame” on TV while I was working … Read more
“Mrs. Kelly’s Monster” has never left me. “The heartbeat goes pop, pop, pop, 70 beats a minute.” Nieman 80 More Nieman Fellows on exemplary journalism that influenced them In his December 12, 1978 … Read more
At the Kentucky Derby women wear ridiculously elaborate hats and heels they regret within the hour. The horses are sleek and strong and beautiful. And, bonus, there’s always bourbon. When Seattle Slew won the … Read more
In 2001 I covered a story about an 8-year-old girl who had been raped by older boys in her neighborhood. It was then that I became aware how little I knew about what victims go through or how we as … Read more
Nieman 80 More Nieman Fellows on exemplary journalism that influenced them Izzy Stone taught a generation of reporters the bedrock principle that a reporter should never start with the presumption that people in powerful positions tell the … Read more
