{"id":13981,"date":"2025-01-24T13:57:23","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T13:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/?p=13981"},"modified":"2025-01-24T13:57:24","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T13:57:24","slug":"when-she-runs-she-feels-like-a-fire-engine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2025\/01\/24\/when-she-runs-she-feels-like-a-fire-engine\/","title":{"rendered":"‘When She Runs, She Feels Like a Fire Engine’\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":" \n
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Sign up for the Nieman Storyboard newsletter,<\/em><\/a> delivered every Friday in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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***<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Dear Storyboard community, <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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It can feel disorienting to make sense of this week \u2014 a presidential inauguration<\/a>, a flurry of executive orders<\/a>, the pardoning<\/a> of rioters from January 6 (and one who declined<\/a>), and a bishop\u2019s plea for mercy<\/a> \u2014 which is why I\u2019m thankful for all the journalists out there playing the long game. The full story will take days, months, and years to become clear. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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In the meantime, I\u2019m trying to keep an eye on journalists who are in close contact with those who are being impacted directly by changes in leadership and policy. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Over on Bluesky (where you can now follow Nieman Storyboard<\/a>), Casey Parks<\/a> was in contact with a teenager who had a simple, but urgent, concern:<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Parks is a staff reporter for The Washington Post focused on LGBTQ+ issues, and has written some outstanding profiles<\/a> of trans teenagers and their families as they navigate a political environment that has targeted them. It\u2019s storytelling that requires an eagle eye and a compassionate heart.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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As Parks told me this week: <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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For the potential federal sports ban, I wanted to find a kid who is in a blue state. More than half of U.S. states have already banned trans girls from playing girls sports, so I wanted to find a place where a kid is still able to compete. Washington was actually the first state to ever allow trans students to compete (way back in 2008), so I went looking for someone there. I found this girl on Instagram, and we started with an informal conversation.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Parks told me about the process of working with a subject, including helping to prepare them for what can happen:<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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One thing I worry about in my job is exposing young people to hatred. Usually when I write about trans children, their parents have asked us to obscure their faces or not use their full names, because they worry something may happen to their children. The sports issue is particularly delicate because most Americans do agree with the bans, and a lot of people are very, very angry at trans athletes, and I don’t want to expose a child to that kind of painful rhetoric. In this case, she has already been exposed to it because she won a state track meet last year, and the crowd booed her. She knows what she is risking by being public. Still, I wanted to give her some time to think about it before I put her on the front page of the Washington Post, so I told her to talk to her mom and sleep on it, and in the meantime, I shared a little bit of her story anonymously on Bluesky. To use a fully anonymous source at the Post, I would have to make a compelling case to my bosses, and they would take some time to think about whether that’s something we want to do.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Parks also offered some recommendations for journalists covering trans issues:<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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I would definitely reach out to the Trans Journalists Association<\/a> for guidance if you haven’t covered these issues before. I would also counsel reporters to not be offended if someone doesn’t want to be on the record. I actually just got an email from someone I talked to yesterday who told me I can’t use her name. I’m not going to push her because she has the right to do everything she can to be safe. Officials in Texas and elsewhere have shown they will go after trans adults or parents with trans children, and there are going to be a lot of people who do not want their names in the paper. Their experiences can still be worthwhile to hear.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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***<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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What\u2019s a Scene That Sticks in Your Mind? <\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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Longtime Storyboard readers know this site has published many great story annotations<\/a> (and the pitches that got them assigned<\/a>). I\u2019d like to continue that tradition with another running series called \u201cBehind the Scenes\u201d \u2014 we\u2019ll talk to writers and journalists about specific moments from their stories, books, podcasts, and documentaries, and find out exactly how they reported and crafted them. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Pitch your \u201cBehind the Scenes\u201d moments to me at heymarkarms@gmail.com<\/a>. And be sure to check out our pitch guide<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Subscribe<\/h2>\n \n
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Get insights into the craft of journalism and storytelling in your inbox, delivered on Fridays.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n \n

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Links of note<\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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