As a kid I loved Superman. The undisputed good guy, he saved the world. Superhero and comic book movies often showcase easy-to-understand stakes, protagonists, and antagonists, making villains and heroes obvious. Depending on how you view the world, for many … Read more
Being in a battleground state has meant having an embattled relationship with the news during the election season. As recently as this past weekend, President Donald Trump counted my hometown, Milwaukee, “among the most dishonest political places,” as a retallying … Read more
Hannane Ferdjani, NF ’20, launched her program “Beyond the Noise” to report on the pandemic’s impact on Africa Providing better narratives about Africa — it’s been my journalism quest since I first stumbled my way into … Read more
David Barboza, NF ’16, is turning information gathered by his journalists into a database for companies During much of my time working as a journalist at The New York Times, I kept asking myself the same question: what do I … Read more
I used to be the king of the N-S-A: No. Strings. Attached. I was single. I had no children. And I was a renter. When the discount plane fare to Japan arrived in my inbox, I flew to Tokyo on … Read more
I spent my childhood in a tiny pink house in suburban Chicago, surrounded by noise. The television blared theme songs from my grandmother’s soap operas. My grandfather’s fire department scanner interrupted with scratchy reports of people in distress. Aunties entered … Read more
Before the coronavirus pandemic gripped the world, people in Milwaukee had another unprecedented preoccupation: the 2020 Democratic National Convention. The four-day event—still slated to take place here, though postponed from July to August because of the … Read more
In my proposal for the new Abrams Nieman Fellowship for Local Investigative Journalism, I made one core commitment — to spend a lot of time on the road listening to people who want to share their … Read more
The pain of a journalist whose work is thrown into a deep dark hole by government gatekeepers deployed in a newsroom is like no other pain on earth. You hit the road as a young reporter taking an oath to … Read more
During a roundup at the Diamond M Ranch the other day, I dodged a 1,000-pound Hereford and nearly landed on a cow pie. Hazards on assignment at the eastern Washington spread contrasted with urban perils that I encounter on the … Read more
