{"id":15007,"date":"2025-03-21T12:57:48","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T12:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/?p=15007"},"modified":"2025-03-21T12:57:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T12:57:49","slug":"5-reporting-and-storytelling-lessons-from-current-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2025\/03\/21\/5-reporting-and-storytelling-lessons-from-current-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"5 reporting and storytelling lessons from the current moment"},"content":{"rendered":"    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/about\/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard\/\"><em>Sign up for the Nieman Storyboard newsletter,<\/em><\/a><em>&nbsp;delivered every Friday in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">***<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Dear Storyboard community,&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>This week, I thought I&#8217;d share some takeaways from my recent reading. We&#8217;re now two months into Trump&#8217;s second term. Thanks to brave and thoughtful reporting on the ground, the breaking news and standalone stories are bringing larger narratives into focus:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-heading   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. <strong>Tell the story chronologically<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>Washington Post reporters Karen DeYoung and Derek Hawkins present <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2025\/03\/18\/doge-institute-of-peace-takeover-musk-trump\/\">a harrowing timeline of events<\/a>: This week, Elon Musk&#8217;s DOGE, with assistance from the FBI and D.C. police, seized control of the U.S. Institute of Peace after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2025\/03\/18\/doge-institute-of-peace-takeover-musk-trump\/\">a standoff with leaders of the agency<\/a>. Congress founded the USIP in 1984 as a &#8220;nonpartisan, independent organization dedicated to protecting U.S. interests by helping to prevent violent conflicts and broker peace deals abroad.&#8221; USIP leaders scrambled to cancel a contract with their own private security firm due to fears they were working with DOGE, and called 911 to summon D.C. police, only for officers to then let DOGE inside:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-quote mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>All USIP personnel present, including [USIP President George Moose], whose locked door on the fifth floor was forced open, were escorted by police from the building and prevented from reentering.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-heading   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. <strong>Use the Freedom of Information Act\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>Jason Koebler, co-founder of the tech site <a href=\"https:\/\/www.404media.co\/\">404 Media<\/a>, recently filed dozens of FOIA requests related to communications within federal agencies, in part to confirm if they are still being processed. He and his colleagues <a href=\"https:\/\/www.404media.co\/public-records-reveal-how-agencies-complied-with-trumps-anti-trans-order\/\">sought and obtained several memos<\/a> that agencies were required to create to comply with Trump&#8217;s anti-trans executive order. Koebler writes that &#8220;FOIA may indeed be a way to bring transparency and some semblance of accountability to an administration that has gutted the federal workforce and has attempted to evade public records laws.&#8221; The team at 404 Media also created <a href=\"https:\/\/www.404media.co\/foia-forum-archive\/\">a series of videos for paid subscribers on how to file FOIA requests<\/a>, and you can see the status of their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muckrock.com\/organization\/404-media\/#requests\">FOIA requests over at MuckRock<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-heading   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. <strong>A troubling story can still be uplifting<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>CBS&#8217;s &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/concert-cancellation-trump-administration-dei-order-60-minutes-transcript\/\">the story of DEI changes affecting the United States Marine Band<\/a>, which had hosted a contest for teenage musicians to get a chance to play with them. A diverse group of thirty students were chosen, and a concert was scheduled \u2014 but it was abruptly canceled last month following Trump&#8217;s anti-DEI executive order. After &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; gathered the students for interviews, a new concert was planned\u00a0for students to play with veterans from military bands, in front of an even more robust audience.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  <section class=\"block block-embed\">\n                <div class=\"video-responsive\">\n        <iframe title=\"youtube\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lhwS06U1SnA\" frameborder=\"0\"\n                allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\"\n                allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n      <\/div>\n    \n    \n    \n    \n  <\/section>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-heading   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. <strong>&#8216;Symbols are not just symbols. They reflect the stories that people tell&#8217;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>For The Atlantic, Clint Smith <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2025\/03\/blm-mural-removal-dc\/682032\/\">observed as construction crews tore down the Black Lives Matter mural<\/a> from a two-block area in Washington, D.C., following threats from Republicans in Congress to withhold millions of dollars in federal funding if they didn&#8217;t remove the mural and rename Black Lives Matter Plaza to Liberty Plaza. The mural was painted in 2020 following the protests over the police killing of George Floyd. Smith talked to one of the crew members assigned to the job:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-quote mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>I walked up to one of the workers holding a stop sign near an intersection. Antonio (he asked me to use only his first name because he wasn\u2019t authorized to speak with reporters) wore a highlighter-yellow vest, his dreadlocks falling down his back from beneath his white hard hat. He told me he lives in Southeast D.C. and remembered feeling a sense of pride when the mural was painted. When he found out that he would be part of the team removing it, he asked not to be behind the wheel of any of the machines. \u201cI just told them I don\u2019t want a part in touching it,\u201d he said, shaking his head. He looked over at the jackhammer pummeling the concrete on the other side of the street. \u201cIt was a memorial for the culture, and now I feel like something is being stripped from the culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-heading   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. <strong>When you don&#8217;t get an answer, keep asking<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>At <a href=\"https:\/\/www.readtpa.com\/\">The Present Age<\/a>, Parker Molloy highlights <a href=\"https:\/\/www.readtpa.com\/p\/this-is-how-you-interview-a-government\">a remarkable exchange between NPR&#8217;s Michel Martin and Troy Edgar<\/a>, deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, following the arrest of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil by ICE agents. Martin asks for clarity on why Khalil was arrested, and when Edgar doesn\u2019t give a straight answer, she sticks with the question. As Molloy notes, it&#8217;s a textbook example of &#8220;a journalist who simply refuses to move on until they get an answer&#8230; Martin pressed Edgar at least ten times to provide a specific example of what Khalil did that constituted supporting terrorism, and Edgar couldn&#8217;t offer a single concrete example. Not one.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"block block-subscribe full-width\">\n            <h2 class=\"subscribe-title\">Subscribe to Storyboard<\/h2>\n        \n            <div class=\"subscribe-content\">\n            <p>Get insights into the craft of journalism and storytelling in your inbox, delivered on Fridays.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    \n                <div class=\"subscribe-embed\">\n                            <div class=\"mt-5\">\n                 <div translate=\"no\" class='mailmunch-forms-widget-1154494'><\/div>\n\n                <\/div>\n               \n                    <\/div>\n    \n<\/div>    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-heading   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Links of Note&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-image mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.audioflux.org\/circuit-05\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AFC05-PressReleaseImage-v03bnofluxy-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15012\" style=\"width:444px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AFC05-PressReleaseImage-v03bnofluxy-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AFC05-PressReleaseImage-v03bnofluxy-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AFC05-PressReleaseImage-v03bnofluxy-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AFC05-PressReleaseImage-v03bnofluxy-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AFC05-PressReleaseImage-v03bnofluxy-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AFC05-PressReleaseImage-v03bnofluxy-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AFC05-PressReleaseImage-v03bnofluxy-40x40.jpg 40w, https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AFC05-PressReleaseImage-v03bnofluxy-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AFC05-PressReleaseImage-v03bnofluxy-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AFC05-PressReleaseImage-v03bnofluxy-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AFC05-PressReleaseImage-v03bnofluxy-180x180.jpg 180w, https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AFC05-PressReleaseImage-v03bnofluxy-360x360.jpg 360w, https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AFC05-PressReleaseImage-v03bnofluxy-115x115.jpg 115w, https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AFC05-PressReleaseImage-v03bnofluxy-230x230.jpg 230w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-list mb-4 list max-w-screen-full mx-auto pl-5 \">\n            \n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Elaine Appleton Grant, author of the excellent audio storytelling newsletter <a href=\"https:\/\/soundjudgment.substack.com\/\">Sound Judgment<\/a>, has a new series for podcasters on the <a href=\"https:\/\/soundjudgment.substack.com\/p\/the-essential-elements-of-a-winning\">essential elements of a winning pitch<\/a>. She says that she struggled with writing the series, given the layoffs and upheaval in podcasting and media. &#8220;Storytellers are justifiably anxious,&#8221; Grant writes. But another editor, Ruxandra Guidi, urged her to continue: &#8220;Learning how to pitch a good idea is timeless.\u201d Grant also directs readers to <a href=\"https:\/\/airmedia.org\/tools\/2025-rate-guide\">a brand-new rate guide for audio freelancers<\/a>, published by <a href=\"https:\/\/airmedia.org\/\">AIR<\/a> (the Association of Independents in Radio), which reveals average hourly ranges by role. Pay transparency is timeless, too.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.audioflux.org\/\">Audio Flux<\/a>, an experimental home for short-form audio storytelling co-founded by radio and podcast pioneers Julie Shapiro and John DeLore, is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.audioflux.org\/circuit-05\">seeking 3-minute audio stories for its fifth &#8220;circuit.&#8221;<\/a> Submissions are due by April 1, and the theme is &#8220;In 3D.&#8221; Their creative partner is writer, comedian and &#8220;3D photography enthusiast&#8221; Eric Drysdale, who also curates and hosts the <a href=\"https:\/\/midcentury3d.org\/\">Midcentury Stereopanorama<\/a> experience. <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/1UduIWUyJbe3J8X-UiuJ7J96WMkg8peEpOclUVtkeA4I\/viewform?edit_requested=true\">More details are available here.<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>One final storytelling tip from author Matt Bell, who writes fiction, but his lessons can apply to narrative nonfiction as well. When he feels like his novels are too bogged down in exposition, Bell looks to the <a href=\"https:\/\/mattbell.substack.com\/p\/48-action-dialogue-image-using-screenwriting\">constraints of screenwriting<\/a> to see where he can streamline. &#8220;For my purposes I\u2019m basically trying to boil scenes down to three elements: dialogue, action, and image. That\u2019s it. As I\u2019m trying to render a story in screenplay format, I decided I can really only let myself advance the plot by one of those three items.&#8221; If you\u2019re thinking through how best to tell a story, I hope one of these strategies might point you on a new path.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>Keep sharing your stories,\u00a0<br><br>Mark Armstrong<br><a href=\"https:\/\/nieman.harvard.edu\/mark-armstrong-named-editor-of-nieman-storyboard\/\">Editor<\/a><br>Nieman Storyboard\u00a0<br>On Bluesky: <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:nejd5yomd3xtdcdg267bqim5\">@niemanstoryboard.org<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<br><br>Send me your story, book, podcast, and documentary recommendations: <a href=\"mailto:editor@niemanstoryboard.org\">editor@niemanstoryboard.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Plus: A guide to pitching podcasts, and author Matt Bell&#8217;s inspiration from screenwriting. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":15019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[441,408,425],"topics":[],"authors":[],"issue":[],"class_list":["post-15007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-editor","tag-narrative-on-deadline","tag-newsletter","tag-podcasts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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