{"id":16892,"date":"2026-03-06T14:05:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T14:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/?p=16892"},"modified":"2026-03-06T14:05:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T14:05:44","slug":"bringing-your-values-to-your-reporting-and-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2026\/03\/06\/bringing-your-values-to-your-reporting-and-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Bringing your values to your reporting and writing"},"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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As traditional news outlets like the Washington Post undergo layoffs<\/a>, and more journalists are working independently, it makes sense that the legacy POV of traditional newsrooms \u2014 including an institutional voice and the avoidance of revealing personal backgrounds or biases \u2014 is giving way to a more individualized and transparent version of storytelling. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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When reporting on the stories of others, our own experiences naturally get reflected back in the retelling. Each writer has the choice over how they want to incorporate themselves into the work. Journalist Irin Carmon took on her latest book project, \u201cUnbearable: Five Women and the Perils of Pregnancy in America<\/a>,\u201d after the birth of her second child, and following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. It’s not a memoir, but Carmon shares personal background and a clear point of view while weaving together deeply reported stories of five women in the post-Dobbs era. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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\u201cI am transparent that the book has a particular perspective \u2014 unabashedly in favor of reproductive freedom and justice,\u201d says Carmon, a New York magazine reporter who has covered gender, reproduction, and the law for over a decade. \u201cTo me, journalism is about process: reporting, research, challenging one\u2019s assumptions, and putting as much of that on the page as possible. It does not require pretending that you don\u2019t bring your own values and perspectives to what you\u2019re writing about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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This week, Carmon talks with Storyboard contributor Carly Stern<\/a> about how the project came together, starting with the book proposal, and annotates a chapter to share her writing and reporting decisions at the sentence level.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Annotation: Irin Carmon follows the experiences of five pregnant women in the post-Dobbs era<\/a><\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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\"Irin<\/a>
Irin Carmon. Photo by Sophie Sahara<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div> \n
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\u201cThis was a timeless story that became more salient to people \u2014 that they understood better \u2014 because the Dobbs decision was bringing everything to a head. To me, there was no particular rush. But I understood that there was a market reason to sell the proposal during this window because that was when publishers were interested in this subject.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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

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