Tag Archives: The Washington Post

Hank Stuever on story structure, really reporting Christmas and the problem with the “sacred space” approach to narrative

Washington Post reporter Hank Stuever writes in a variety of  narrative forms, from books to punchy television reviews and features. His latest book, “Tinsel: A Search for America’s Christmas Present,” is based on time he spent in Frisco, Texas, beginning in 2006. Making good on the title’s evocations of both sweetness and Scrooge, Stuever explores [...]

What we’re watching, from Korean War veterans to skate punk trespassers and a town that lives off prisons

This round of selections shows the diversity of visual storytelling, from drawings to documentary and interactive immersion. Whether it’s kinetic camera work or the power of a single subject, each of these projects offers some aspect worth swiping. Happy viewing!
“Cannonball,” a short film from California Is a Place. In the midst of economic turmoil, skateboarders [...]

Audience storytelling from “Star Wars” to “Top Secret America”: interactivity across the spectrum

Chewbacca and Washington Post reporters may have more in common than you think: both might get an assist from the general public on in-depth projects that are in the news this week.
“Top Secret America,” The Washington Post’s massive effort to identify a network of secret facilities blanketing the nation, has garnered particular attention today. For [...]

Death comes for comics storyteller Harvey Pekar (October 8, 1939 – July 12, 2010)

Comic book writer and misfit Harvey Pekar spent his life bracing for the worst, and now, finally, he can relax.
Pekar was a non-fiction storyteller who recorded his daily existence for others to draw. In the medium of American comics, where the power fantasies of corporate superheroes in tights are the norm, Pekar’s work stands out [...]

What we’re reading, second edition: in which we offer soccer balls, the Book of Revelation and a visit to the Khyber Pass

In our new installment of written work worth checking out, we encourage you to think about the history of the soccer ball, the awesomeness that was the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, the expanding ramifications of the oil disaster in the Gulf, the many things we receive from our parents, and one former Marine’s problem with the [...]

From tales of wonder to tales of horror: David Small dissects Stitches

David Small has made a career illustrating books for children.  So it was no surprise that he should be the featured speaker on the last day of Harvard’s popular class, “History, Philosophy and Literature of Childhood,” taught by Maria Tatar. But on that chilly spring afternoon, standing in front of 190 eager undergraduates, he came [...]

David Finkel on The Good Soldiers: “I’m not obligated to these men, but I do want to tell a story that they recognize”

Tomorrow, Washington Post national enterprise editor David Finkel will receive the 2010 J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize for The Good Soldiers, a bruising account of a U.S. Army battalion’s service in Iraq during 2007 and 2008. The $10,000 prize, announced by the Nieman Foundation and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, is given for excellence [...]

Boston Bookfuturists look at mapping, charting new narratives

Continuing the “future of narrative” theme for this week, today we look at some of the experimental stories discussed at the first-ever Boston Bookfuturists Meetup on January 29, hosted by Joanne McNeil of Tomorrow Museum. Nieman Lab director Josh Benton attended and brought back some links to interesting new approaches to narrative.
The discussion touched on “Mr. Plimpton’s [...]

The Washington Post Story Lab: letting readers in on how sausage gets made

Is the future of story watching story unfold? Participating in story as it unfolds? The Washington Post’s Story Lab (which had a soft launch last week and official debut today) is about to find out. Marc Fisher, enterprise editor for local news, heads up a group of nine Post staffers assigned to the project (though [...]

Marc Fisher on The Washington Post’s new Story Lab

I spoke this morning with Marc Fisher, enterprise editor for local news at The Washington Post. Fisher is heading up the organization’s new Story Lab, which launched this week. See our next post for the Storyboard take on the Lab.
Can you tell me a little about the genesis of the Story Lab?
We restructured our whole [...]