-
The Nine Most Disappointing Movies of All Time
Nine movies I wish I could forget
-
Read of the Week: “Comic Book Hero”
Browsing the cover story archives of the Washington Post Magazine, I came across this gem of a story, “Comic Book Hero.” by David Rowell. The story profiles Andre Campbell, a 44-year-old legally blind would-be comic book artist. It’s not the story of how he succeeded in overcoming the odds and cracking into comic book publishing…
-
Nieman Conference: Wrap Up
I’m back from Boston now, after my second Nieman Conference. Overall, another really impressive, well-run event. Kudos to everyone at the Nieman Foundation for putting on a fine conference. A few quick closing thoughts: Books I want to buy now, based on what I saw in Boston: D.C. Comics Guide to Writing Comics. Tom French…
-
Nieman Conference: Thoughts on Day Three
I kicked off day three in the session on “Animating History,” featuring a panel including Adam Hochschild, Jane Kamensky, Isabel Wilkerson, and Scott Martelle. I loved the idea from Isabella Wilkerson that an important part about figuring out who to focus on for a book (or story) is the process of “auditioning” subjects through interviews,…
-
Nieman Conference: Thoughts on Day Two, P.M.
Over lunch, a bunch of strangers and I tried to figure out how to save the newspaper business. We didn’t succeed in finding a solution, but the brownies were quite tasty. For the first afternoon session, went to “Conversation on Craft” on Magazines. The conversation focused on this powerful feature story from the New Yorker:…
-
Nieman Conference: A Public Service Announcement
After two days, it seems clear some attendees are a little hazy about questions. A question, as I understand it, is supposed to be a brief query directed at a speaker or a panel. They aren’t: Long, rambling speeches with no clear purpose “Observations”… followed with a faux question like “what do you think about…
-
Nieman Conference: Thoughts on Day Two, A.M.
The Keynote session to kick off Day Two was a discussion with author and writer for the New Yorker, Jon Lee Anderson. To me, it seemed like a little too much fawning over Anderson. Felt like I was watching “Inside the Actor’s Studio”… Despite that, I did take away a few morsels of value from Anderson’s…
-
What it’s all about
During Tom French’s session yesterday, he mentioned a Washington Post story by Anne Hull as an example of fine narrative journalism. It was about about a woman and her grandson walking down a road in the days after Katrina. I read it this morning and couldn’t agree more. I doubt that many of the countless stories written about…
-
Nieman Conference: Thoughts on Day One
At the Nieman Conference, everyone talks about “storytelling.” It’s what most writers here aspire to, rather than everyday news journalism. So when I walked into the main hall for the Connie Schultz keynote address, the story of the state of the journalism industry was told in the size of the room itself. The welcome and…
-
Heading to Boston
Tomorrow morning I’ll head up to Boston to attend the Nieman Conference on Narrative. I attended last year and was thoroughly impressed with the quality of the panels and speakers. Roy Peter Clark, Adam Hochschild, Tom French, Lane DeGregory, and Jacqui Banaszynski were all amazing. Most of the attendees at the conference are working journalists.…