When Amy Wallace profiled then-Variety editor Peter Bart for Los Angeles magazine, she took on issues of access, personality, misdirection, industry politics, journalism and retaliation. To write about a guy who’s been called “the most hated man in Hollywood” demands guts and patience. To pull it off as she did requires a certain tact and [...]
Tag Archives: The New York Times
Inside “Snow Fall,” the New York Times multimedia storytelling sensation
March 29, 2013 – 8:24 am
“Snow Fall,” the widely celebrated New York Times multimedia narrative on a deadly avalanche in Washington State, won a Peabody this week for being “a spectacular example of the potential of digital-age storytelling.” The project packaged a six-part story by Pulitzer finalist John Branch, accompanied by interactive graphics, video and character bios of the expert skiers and [...]
“Why’s this so good?” No. 70: David Ramsey and Lil Wayne
January 29, 2013 – 9:31 am
Like the hook of a catchy song, David Ramsey’s “I Will Forever Remain Faithful,” from the Fall 2008 issue of The Oxford American, lures you in with a promise: 1. Complex magazine: What do you listen to these days? Lil Wayne: Me! All day, all me. As a pick-up line, it works. People uninitiated to Lil [...]
“Why’s this so good?” No. 67: Dan P. Lee and Travis the killer chimp
December 4, 2012 – 9:58 am
It was a sideshow story whose horror was so extravagant that it bordered on vulgarity: On Feb. 16, 2009, a 14-year-old male chimpanzee named Travis, who had been raised from infancy by Nancy Herold, attacked a friend who was visiting her home in Stamford, Conn. Over the next 12 minutes, he ripped or chewed off [...]
Building better sentences: Connie Hale on verbs, nouns, Vikings, scenes, geekspeak, grammar wars and rewiring bad lines
November 9, 2012 – 9:34 am
In Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch, her new book on writing and language, journalist and writing teacher Constance Hale explores the world of verbs. Hale, a Hawaii native who lives in San Francisco, is the author of Sin and Syntax and Wired Style, and recently wrapped up an eight-part series on sentences, “Draft,” for the New York Times’ Opinionator section. [...]
“The Power of Storytelling,” Part 4: Chris Jones on why stories matter, Pat Walters on endings, Walt Harrington on integrity
November 2, 2012 – 8:59 am
In Part 3 of our recap of Romania’s “Power of Storytelling” conference on narrative journalism, radio producer Starlee Kine talked about story forms and themes; Esquire‘s Mike Sager talked about listening, and about suspending disbelief; and Pulitzer winner Alex Tizon talked about writing one’s own story. In Part 2, Pulitzer winner Jacqui Banaszynski wrote a short essay about why she and eight other North American [...]
Hurricane Sandy: story forms
October 30, 2012 – 10:26 am
The Hurricane Sandy storylines are still unfolding, but one thing became clear on Monday as winds and water overtook New York City and New Jersey in historic proportions: Digital media deepened the transformation of the disaster narrative. Here’s some of what’s out there today in various storytelling forms: The New York Times’ Tumblr-like live update stream was the cleanest [...]
