{"id":16578,"date":"2026-01-09T04:43:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T04:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/?p=16578"},"modified":"2026-01-09T04:43:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T04:43:45","slug":"protecting-the-first-drafts-of-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2026\/01\/09\/protecting-the-first-drafts-of-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting the first drafts of history"},"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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Dear Storyboard community:<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Nieman Storyboard has long been a place that celebrates, as journalists like Barry Yeoman describe it, \u201cthe second draft of history\u201d<\/a> \u2014 the longform projects that, with the benefit of time and distance, coupled with deep reporting and research, bring the truth into sharper focus.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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But to have a second draft of history, we must also have a reliable first draft that we can build from. Photojournalist Stephanie Keith spoke recently on the Nieman Storyboard podcast<\/a> about the importance of capturing images and video that reveal the truth and clarity of an event in the moment. This includes the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when pro-Trump protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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\u201cOn January 6th, if there had been no photojournalist there, can you imagine what the narrative would’ve looked like?\u201d she told me. \u201cEven if things don’t change right away \u2014 it’s still important to create a record of the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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We\u2019re entering 2026 at a moment when every draft of history chronicled by journalists is under attack. This week, for the fifth anniversary of January 6th, the Trump White House released its own false, revised history<\/a> on its website. Then on Wednesday, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in her car in Minneapolis<\/a>. Good was a 37-year-old mother of three<\/a>. Citizens captured video<\/a> of the shooting from multiple angles, providing visual evidence<\/a>. The narrative was being spun within hours after the shooting, with Trump administration officials distorting details about the killing and smearing the victim before an investigation can even take place.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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What do journalists do now? The only answers seem to be: keep showing up, keep bearing witness, keep documenting history, and keep creating trustworthy drafts of history. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Every image, every story, and every angle makes the truth harder to hide. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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One journalist who covered January 6th as it happened was NPR’s Tonya Mosley<\/a>. The co-host of \u201cFresh Air\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and host of the podcast \u201cTruth Be Told\u201d<\/a> is our latest guest on the Nieman Storyboard podcast<\/a>. Christina M. Tapper<\/a> talked with Mosley about how she prepares for interviews and guides conversations along, as well as how she navigated the difficulty of reporting on her own family history for the podcast docuseries, \u201cShe Has a Name.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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NPR’s Tonya Mosley on the art of the interview<\/a><\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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\"Tonya<\/a>
Tonya Mosley. Photo by Bria Celest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div> \n
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\u201cI really do study the way people talk. That is something that in my research I’m really listening for. Does a person talk fast and are they a good edit? Because if you’re listening to someone and they’re talking fast, then you know that you won’t be able to cut them off when you’re editing after the interview. Or do they make dramatic pauses? Do they go on and on? Are they really short and succinct? That helps me so that I understand during my conversation how it actually might be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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[ Read the story<\/a> ]<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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