Putting Endings First

Re-used with kind permission from Poynter Online for Journalists: www.poynter.org The quote has become the default ending in American journalism and readers and writers are all poorer for it. The other day I randomly picked some news websites, clicked on stories, and scrolled to the bottom. Try it yourself. Open a newspaper, pick a story, and […]

Help with Emotional Interviews Part Two

Lessons Learned: Handling Emotional Interviews, Part 2 The challenge of emotional interviews, which figured in last week’s column, brought two items of feedback worth sharing. The first shares the insights of a reporter who came to the newsroom after more than two decades in nursing. The second focuses on the lessons a young reporter learned. […]

Help with Emotional Interviews

“What is the appropriate response when a subject breaks down or begins to cry during an interview?” That was the question reporter Bre Linstromberg asked in an e-mail the other day: I write features for a medium-sized newspaper in Central Illinois and I have found myself struggling in these situations. I’m not a very touchy-feely […]