National Public Radio

The story behind the story: how media outlets are covering Haiti earthquake

By Michelle V. Rafter on January 18, 2010 | 4 Responses

NPR, the New York Times and other media outlets go behind the scenes to show how they’re covering the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Posted in Media Business, Workplace Issues | Tagged Dr. Bjoern Kils, Haiti earthquake, Haiti earthquake media coverage, MedPage, Miami Herald, National Public Radio, New York Times, NPR, Phillip Kennicott, Washington Post | 4 Responses

Make it easy for readers to understand the hard stuff

By Michelle V. Rafter on October 16, 2008 | 1 Response

The current financial crisis has been tricky for even veteran business writers. How do you explain difficult concepts like collateralized debt obligations or the London interbank lending rate in language that the now-famous Joe the Plumber will understand? It’s not easy. But it is possible, as a handful of writers have shown, including some with [...]

Posted in Economy, Language, Writing | Tagged clear writing, how to write about hard subjects, National Public Radio, Planet Money, Poynter Institute, Roy Peter Clark, The Giant Pool of Money, This American Life, Writing Tools | 1 Response

Why freelancers should add interactive material to story pitches

By Michelle V. Rafter on October 1, 2008 | 13 Responses

I love looking at real estate listings. I started five years ago when I was moving and looking for houses. Now I browse the local multiple listing service Website for fun. OK, secretly I want to buy a house in the mountains, but who knows if that will ever happen. So I was online looking [...]

Posted in Freelancing, Media Business, Technology, Web 2.0 | Tagged adding interactive material to story pitches, freelancer new media skills, including audio and video in stories, interactive storytelling, National Public Radio, new media, new media training | 13 Responses

Can ProPublica be the public interest watchdog of online news?

By Michelle V. Rafter on July 15, 2008 | 4 Responses

While newspapers and magazines continue to lose some of their best writers to downsizing and other cutbacks, one news organization has been building up staff with the hope of becoming the preeminent investigative news source online. The organization is ProPublica, a privately-funded public-interest news Website that opened for business earlier this summer. ProPublica aims to [...]

Posted in Media Business, Newspapers, Online news, Writing | Tagged Charles Ornstein, investigative reporting, National Public Radio, Paul Steiger, ProPublica, public interest journalism, Stephen Engelberg, The Sandler Foundation, Tracy Weber | 4 Responses