Swarthmore Journo Helps Pick Best News Writing
Ben Yagoda
Ben Yagoda of Swarthmore was part of a New York University journalism school panel that selected the best works of journalism of the past decade. Other panelists included Frank Rich, Dan Rather, and David Remnick. Each panelist nominated their personal favorites, then all the nominations were compiled into a single list. The panelists ranked their top choices from that list to come up with a final 10.
Yagoda wrote on his blog (benyagoda.com) that he prioritized works that:
Afflicted the comfortable.
(Even better) Comforted the afflicted.
Displayed disciplined, brave and indefatigable feats of reporting.
Were stylistically excellent or innovative.
Moved the national conversation.
Represented work by a person or organization that had been doing great work for a long time and I felt deserved this level of recognition. (You could call this the John Wayne Oscar phenomenon.)
The three works ranked highest by the panel were:
Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations,” The Atlantic.
Isabel Wilkerson, “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration,” Vintage Books.
Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, “She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement.” (Based on their reporting for The New York Times.)
The top three (of six) works that Yagoda nominated, but that were not included among the final selections:
Matthew Desmond, “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City.”
Glenn Greenwald and Barton Gellman, with Laura Poitras and Ewen MacAskill, revelations of NSA domestic surveillance based on documents from Edward Snowden, The Guardian U.S., and The Washington Post.
Glenn Kessler and Fact Checker Team, database of Donald Trump’s false or misleading statements, The Washington Post.
Yagoda previously served on NYU panels that selected the best journalism of the 2000s, and of the 20th century.
