The Latest: Covering today, informing tomorrow
January 15, 2021
We will be observing Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. This newsletter will return on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
Top stories
Newsrooms mobilize on instinct when news breaks. Those split-second decisions — how we describe an individual or a group and their actions — can define reality for millions of people. The Capitol insurrection provides lessons for the upcoming Inauguration in what loaded language to avoid, questions to ask in real time, and how your values influence the way audiences understand and remember world events.

Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute and Resolve Philly for a practical program that will leave you with tips you can use to ask the right questions in real time and prepare to cover the unexpected on Inauguration Day and in the weeks and months that follow.

Registration is now open for this program, which will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday, January 19, 2021.

The panel will feature: Eric Deggans, NPR TV critic, MSNBC/NBC commentator and author of “Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation”; Danielle K. Kilgo, the John & Elizabeth Bates Cowles Professor of Journalism, Diversity and Equality in the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Michael McCarter, managing editor for standards, ethics & inclusion at USA Today; Aubrey Nagle, Reframe editor at Resolve Philly. The program will be moderated by Cassie Haynes, co-executive director of Resolve Philly.
With the help of inspiring journalists, we learned about writing in many different ways over the last year — from sharing about personal loss to evoking emotions through detail; and finding your focus to turning your memories into a memoir. As we enter the new year, we reached out to our previous writing program instructors to hear about their 2021 writing resolutions:


What are your writing resolutions for 2021? 
Netburn: I’ve got a major people-pleasing problem to work out in my life and on the job. When I get asked to write a quick newsy story, I almost always say yes because I see myself as a team player and I don’t want to let my editors down. Because I know how to write fast, I get asked to write them a lot. Yes, they’re easy, but they still require creative thinking and energy that could be directed into stories that align more with my personal goals. 

In 2021 I intend to take a pause before saying yes to quick hit assignments and think about if this is truly the most valuable use of my time. (That doesn’t mean always saying no, but it might mean saying no more often.)
DeGregory: My writing resolution for 2021 is to read more fiction so I can be inspired to try to incorporate more lyrical writing into my stories, even when they’re news-based. I’ve been writing so many more, shorter, newsier stories since the pandemic began, and consuming so much breaking, sad news, I want to get back into longer narratives and spend more time on the actual crafting of sentences instead of focusing on things like time constraints and space crunches and information that needs to be shared.
Huang: Well, okay, I’m not sure. I wish I could say I’ll write the first chapter of my Bildungsroman. But to be honest, most of my writing these days comes in emails, staff notes, memos, PowerPoint bullet points and grant pitches. My days are occupied less by artistry, and more by research and persuasion. That’s because part of my job is to build my newsroom’s community-funded journalism initiative. We’re seeking philanthropic funding to support our public service journalism. (You can probably tell I’ve written that previous sentence many times before.) That’s okay. I’m willing to put aside my personal writing for the time being in order to do whatever I can to help save local news. And, strangely enough, I’m finding that my storytelling skills come in handy for fundraising. Donors, like most of us, best understand the issues and arguments when they come in the form of powerful stories.
Broadfoot: My writing resolution for 2021 is to set realistic goals for myself. I know that seems a bit meta, to set a goal about setting goals, but if I have learned anything in the last year it is that small concrete actions can make a bigger impact than lofty aspirations. For example, one of my goals is to start writing about myself, my experiences, my perspective — something I found therapeutic before writing became a job. I am going to start journaling, in a bright orange little notebook that a dear friend gave me that only has enough space for a few lines every day. The entries may be pure drivel, or they may inspire a longer essay, either way I will still be accomplishing my goal. 
Greiling: I resolve to write family history stories in 2021. More than 40 years ago, I started researching ancestor dates and places, until life got in the way. I want to continue that research, but the exciting part will be finding stories to go with the facts. I plan to use every online resource and database I can find, and I will comb newspapers for stories.

My daughter, National Press Club Journalism Institute president Angela Greiling Keane, is helping her father and me to remember to record our own stories. She and her family gifted each of us a subscription to StoryWorth so we can record stories for the family. After a year of weekly writing prompts, she will print a beautiful book with our stories.
Maslin: My resolution is to complete a few big projects that have been living inside me this past year. The first steps I’ll take are posting a calendar for myself and working backwards from there. For me, it’s important to break these big goals into tiny ones that I keep posted visually.



To be a good manager for your team, keep learning what they need. Asking for feedback is a direct way to learn how they’re doing and to learn how you’re doing at providing them with the support they need to grow. If what your team needs is more feedback from you, and you’re not sure how to make the time to give it, here are some tips. 

Advice from Jill Geisler, Bill Plante Chair in Leadership & Media Integrity, Loyola University Chicago, Freedom Forum Fellow in Women’s Leadership

Click here to read Jill’s previous posts.
This newsletter is written & edited by the National Press Club Journalism Institute staff: Beth Francesco, Holly Butcher Grant, and Julie Moos. Send us your questions and suggestions for topics to cover.

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