It is often a struggle to turn the vague notion of great journalism into a concrete list of attributes that elevate a story into something noteworthy. And yet, if young journalists can't identify what makes some news stories stand out, they'll have difficulty learning to create great journalism.
This is a form of media literacy: To produce good journalism, reporters first need to know how to identify the attributes of a strong piece in the work of others.
Educators can create the space for this kind of learning, and give students access to the tools and feedback they need. — Nicole Slaughter Graham
Exemplary journalism is about more than following a formula. To grow as a journalist, students need to consume the news thoughtfully, analyzing the storytelling techniques, the ethical questions, the audience service and whether the factual accuracy holds up. After reading, viewing or listening to a news story, a young journalist should be able to ask:
Was this bad, good or great? Why?
Everything a budding reporter consumes — if they are trained to give themselves some time with it — should lead to that moment of reflection. Many stories will be good, a few will be great. The rest will likely have flaws that are important to identify. Learning to articulate why a story succeeds or fails helps reporters flex critical thinking muscles that will improve their own reporting and writing.
At the NPR Public Editor's Office, we spend a lot of time analyzing NPR's journalism. Part of our work is to offer constructive recommendations for improvement. That said, it's also important to highlight the excellent work NPR produces. We do this through our "Spotlight On" features, which are often found at the bottom of our newsletters.
In these features, we highlight stellar work and then explain what makes it good journalism.
Here are two recent examples:
A father and son grapple with a difference in realities
Conspiracy theories are known to cause friction in families, and push some to a breaking point. "Alternate Realities," a new three-part series from NPR's Embedded podcast, brings listeners on a yearlong journey with one family. For years, reporter Zach Mack watched his father fall into a deep rabbit hole of misinformation. Then, one day in early 2024, Mack's dad bet him $10,000 that 10 things would take place sometime in 2024. To Mack, the list was filled with politically apocalyptic predictions. Through remarkably candid conversations with his family, friends and experts, Mack brings us a heartbreaking and vulnerable story that will resonate with anyone who has political differences with their loved ones. — Amaris Castillo
LA fires coverage and landing page
NPR's journalists reported around the clock on the fires in Los Angeles County. They're covering this catastrophic event from all angles: through personal stories, on-the-ground reporting, explanatory reporting, photos and more. They've also dedicated space on their California Fires landing page to various resources, including a tab for resources for local residents and a tab on "How to Help," which includes an article from Los Angeles' local NPR outlet, LAist. Covering an ongoing natural disaster of such scale is not easy. NPR quickly pivoted to ensure that its newsroom made coverage of the LA fires a priority and to create a necessary and timely resource page. — Nicole Slaughter Graham
A checklist for identifying good journalism
The following rubric offers a starting point for evaluating journalism. It's not exhaustive. Outstanding journalism often transcends these categories. But student journalists should always work on improving their ability to explain how and why a story stands out.
Timely and relevant
The story fills a need. It covers a topic that is timely, relevant or important to the intended audience. It addresses issues that have a real-world impact or strong public interest. The network's LA fires coverage is a good example of this.
Advances the conversation of a topic or issue
Instead of repeating information already reported elsewhere, a strong news story moves the dialogue forward. It offers new facts, insights, perspectives or context that deepen public understanding of an ongoing story or issue. We often see this with historical subject matter. One example is how NPR's Throughline podcast brought light to the lesser-known Thanksgiving story of Sarah Josepha Hale.
A well-crafted human interest story
These stories connect emotionally with audiences through compelling characters, vivid details and a strong narrative arc. Human interest stories often illuminate larger issues through the tightly focused lens of individual experiences. The three-part series "Alternate Realities," from NPR's Embedded, is a good example.
Simplifies a complex issue
The reporting takes a complicated subject — whether political, scientific, economic or social — and explains it clearly without sacrificing important nuances. Good explanatory journalism breaks down jargon and shows why the topic matters. For example, NPR's Planet Money produced an in-depth newsletter on the history immigration crackdowns in the U.S. and related it to today's immigration reform.
News you can use
The story provides readers, viewers or listeners with information they can immediately apply to their lives — such as resources, tips, practical advice or actions they can take. It serves an immediate, actionable public need. During the 2024 presidential election, NPR published an explainer with detailed instructions on how to identify misinformation.
Comprehensive reporting
Sometimes a story stands out for its thorough research, diverse sourcing, fairness and fact-checking. NPR recently published a web story about air pollution and how it affects people's health. The network provided information from research, experts and historical context to convey the story.
Students should not just "check boxes" as they learn to evaluate stories. Instead, teachers and editors push young journalists to thoughtfully describe how and why a story stands out — or why it does not. Encouraging students to read, reflect and articulate their reasoning helps them build the kind of journalism literacy that is crucial for creating strong work themselves.
Good journalists are also good critics — not just of others' work, but of their own.
The classroom is a great place to practice identifying good journalism. Students can discuss and learn from their peers and gain guidance from educators along the way.
Teachers: You can facilitate this learning by providing varied examples of journalism, leading group critiques and encouraging students to explain their reasoning — helping them build the confidence and critical eye necessary for their own reporting.
Start by using this handout. In it, our rubric lays out what makes a great news story. Ask your students to use it on stories you've selected or stories linked in this newsletter. Then ask them to find a few samples that meet the rubric's standards. Doing this exercise repeatedly will help young journalists refine their ability to critically analyze the news they consume. — Nicole Slaughter Graham
The Office of the Public Editor is a team. Reporters Amaris Castillo and Nicole Slaughter Graham and copy editor Merrill Perlman make this newsletter possible. Illustrations are by Carlos Carmonamedina. We are still reading all of your messages on Facebook, Instagram, Threads and from our inbox. As always, keep them coming.
Kelly McBride
NPR Public Editor
Chair, Craig Newmark Center for Ethics & Leadership at the Poynter Institute
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