Welcome
Welcome to the Nieman Narrative Digest, a moderated compendium of narrative journalism assembled and refreshed by folks at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.
The idea for the Nieman Narrative Digest came from editors and reporters attending our Nieman Program on Narrative Journalism conferences and seminars, who've told us that they wish they could keep up with what colleagues in other newsrooms have done. They also observe that only some newsrooms are narrative friendly—that often it still takes persuading before they can get narrative work in print, online, or over the air.
But even those who understand the power of scrupulously reported, well-presented narrative seem to want to show off examples, to explain it and lead others toward learning the knack of it. That hasn't been easy to do.
Good narrative is very good for journalism. Readers flood papers with praise after strong stories run. Viewers email broadcasts with their opinions after provocative pieces. Narrative also broadens coverage, harnesses reporters' full personal comprehension and writing skill. It explores everyday life as readers live it.
Narrative is a powerful way to portray situations involving race, class, privilege, want, turns of fortune good and bad. It's good for animating dull stories about regulatory change and community demographic change, stories that seem abstract until made manifest through portrayal of the lives involved. It's a good way to organize stories built from many small scenes, each a part of the puzzle. And while doing all this, the storyteller's voice imparts the feeling of intimacy that has been a casualty of ever larger and more anonymous news organizations. You'll find more about the reasons for the judicious use of narrative in our essays on the subject.
In its first year, this site concentrated on examples of newspaper narrative. In its second year, we will broaden our examples to showcase storytelling that includes audio and video as well as the written word. We hope the site will also interest students and their instructors in courses on writing narrative journalism. Essays and commentaries on these pages discuss narrative journalism reporting practices, ethics, craft, and skills.
We invite you to help us keep the site fresh. If you happen upon reporting that excites you, scares you, makes you laugh, or moves you in unexpected ways, send us an e-mail and let us know about it. We want to reflect the myriad stories out there—whether long or short; famous or unsung; print, podcast, or broadcast.
We're glad you've found us, and hope you'll be in touch—we'll look for your continuing advice on new work, and on how to keep this site working for all of us.