Journalists & Writers

The Nieman Foundation fulfills our mission to "... promote and elevate the standards of journalism and educate persons deemed especially qualified for journalism" in a variety of ways.

Besides the fellowship program, we sponsor many important initiatives that allow journalists who are not Nieman fellows to benefit from the Foundation's work.  These range from helping journalists tell their stories in a more compelling manner through the Narrative Journalism program to keeping a eye on the powerful at the Nieman Watchdog web site.

 

 

Resources

Awards The Nieman Foundation administers several awards that honor the best in writing:

 

 

Narrative Anthology Our attempt to give narrative journalists access to the best teachers and practitioners extends to the publication of books and transcripts. Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers Guide features more than ninety essays and short pieces adapted from our narrative conferences.

The essays share the insights of fifty-two of the country's top writers and editors; they take the reader from story idea through publication, and on to writing books and building a career as a narrative writer.

 

 

Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism The annual Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism, which is open to the public, gathers 50 of the best teachers and practitioners of this form and about 800 attendees, including journalists working in every genre and every medium.
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Nieman Reports For more than six decades, Nieman Reports has explored what it means to be a journalist, examined major shifts in how the work of journalists is done, pondered the ways in which this work can be funded, and shared with the quarterly magazine’s global audience of journalists the many challenges, opportunities and responsibilities that news organizations have confronted during times of change.

Nieman Reports is unique in its approach as a journalism magazine. On its pages, journalists write out of their own experiences; in doing so, they share valuable insights and offer useful guidance to our audience of journalists. In each issue, topics of current interest are addressed from a wide variety of perspectives.

 

 

Nieman Watchdog Project NiemanWatchdog.org went online in 2004 with a goal of doing a great service by helping to frame questions on important issues. It was clear that reporters could use all the help they could get, stuck as they were under enormous pressure from deadlines, a flood of raw information, manipulated news, deliberate misinformation and just plain junk that was thrown at them every day.

Nieman Watchdog’s response is to offer suggestions and encouragement and to urge the press to cover important stories aggressively, with independence and originality.

 

 

Nieman Journalism Lab The Nieman Journalism Lab is a collaborative attempt to figure out how quality journalism can survive and thrive in the Internet age.

We don’t pretend to have even five percent of all the answers, but we do know a lot of smart people. Primary among them are our readers; we hope your contributions will make the Lab a collaborative exchange of ideas. Tell us what’s happening around you, or what should be.

In addition, here at Harvard, we’re working with the Harvard Business School on new business models, the Berkman Center for Internet and Society on understanding online life, and the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations on one potential path for news organizations.

 

 

Nieman Narrative Digest The Nieman Narrative Digest offers journalists who are not fellows a parallel opportunity to read new work, study the form, and avail themselves of various resources.

A weekly menu of Notable Narratives are paired with commentaries on what works and what doesn’t. The Editor’s Corner looks more broadly at narrative issues, links to related works of merit, and invites discussion from readers. In Essays on Craft, veteran narrative journalists share their insights on what makes for great storytelling.

Other resources include interviews with writers, an archive of previously featured work, a glossary of narrative and journalistic terms, and a list of books, Web sites, and other resources for journalists struggling to find ever better ways of telling meaningful stories.