Readings

Access

The Smith College Library provides free access to The New York Times and other paywalled newspapers.

• Access through the Smith College Library

Scrollytelling

• A New Picture of Global Migration
• Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek
• Millions of Movers Reveal American Polarization in Action (Published 2024)
• Steier, J. (2025). The playbook used to “prove” vaccines cause autism. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/08/19/opinion/vaccines-autism-evidence.html
• We Traced Pope Leo XIV’s Ancestry Back 500 Years. Here’s What We Found.
• Gabbert, E. (2022). A poem (and a painting) about the suffering that hides in plain sight. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/03/06/books/auden-musee-des-beaux-arts.html

closeread examples

• A Poem (and a Painting) About the Suffering That Hides in Plain Sight
• Narrative Graphics of Space and Time
• Winners of the Closeread Prize – Data-Driven Scrollytelling with Quarto
• EURO 2024 Final Scrollytelling Analysis
• Council housing & neighbourhood income inequality in Vienna
• https://closeread.dev/gallery/

Use of numbers

• Joel K. Bourne, Jr. (2010). Is another deepwater disaster inevitable? National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/gulf-oil-spill0
• Deepwater Horizon assignment

Journalistic style and interviewing

• Schick, T., & Samayoa, M. (2025). How the pacific northwest’s dream of green energy fell apart. Oregon Public Broadcasting. https://www.opb.org/article/2025/05/12/oregon-washington-green-energy-bonneville/
• Schick, T., & Samayoa, M. (2026). Our reporting showed washington ranks last in green energy growth. Now the state is working to speed it up. ProPublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/washington-renewable-energy-projects-grid-upgrades
• Dailey, K., Prakash, A., Norman, Z., Nguyen, J., Luo, Z. S., & Cenziper, D. (2026). “A godsend”: ProPublica’s rx inspector tool is helping people find critical safety information on generic drugs. ProPublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/rx-inspector-reshaping-decisions-generic-drugs
• Roberts, B. (2026). ProPublica publishes unreleased data on the origins of generic prescription drugs. ProPublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/rx-inspector-generic-drugs-data
• Wilkerson, I. (2007). Playing fair with subjects. In M. Kramer & W. Call (Eds.), Telling true stories: A nonfiction writers’ guide from the Nieman foundation at Harvard University (pp. 172–176). Penguin.
• Wilkerson, I. (2007). Interviewing: Accelerated intimacy. In M. Kramer & W. Call (Eds.), Telling true stories: A nonfiction writers’ guide from the Nieman foundation at Harvard University (pp. 30–33). Penguin.
• Hart, J. (2021). Reporting. In Storycraft: The complete guide to writing narrative nonfiction (pp. 146–162). University of Chicago Press.
• Metzler, K. (1989). Creative interviewing: The writer’s guide to gathering information by asking questions (3rd ed., pp. 1–23). Boston: Allyn; Bacon.

Examples of previous student work

• Petty, O., Deras, Y. M., & Caliandri, A. (2025). Minding the "gap": Low vaccination rates in some local schools could spell trouble. The Shoestring. https://theshoestring.org/2025/06/06/minding-the-gap-low-vaccination-rates-in-some-local-schools-could-spell-trouble/
• Linker, C., Kowal, L., & R., T. (2025). Attacks on health research could cost local economy millions. The Shoestring. https://theshoestring.org/2025/05/09/attacks-on-health-research-could-cost-local-economy-millions/
• Reyes, N. T., Bhattacharya, S., Report, S., & Wun, T. T. R. (2023). A higher ed game-changer?: Could MassReconnect change college education in massachusetts? Experts say yes. The Daily Hampshire Gazette. https://gazettenet.com/2023/05/28/could-the-massreconnect-program-change-college-education-in-massachusetts-51056620/
• Almaraz, V., Georgiou, V., & Li, C. (2023). Combating the crises: Northampton organizations eye ways to address mental health challenges among LGBTQ+ youth. The Daily Hampshire Gazette. https://gazettenet.com/2023/06/16/northampton-organizations-combat-lgbtq-mental-health-crisis-51225706/
• Zayatz, B. (2025). As wage theft hounds western mass workers, some fight back. The Shoestring. https://theshoestring.org/2025/08/09/as-wage-theft-hounds-western-mass-workers-some-fight-back/

Other readings

• Duronio, M. (2024). Trespassing charges create “dragnet” in holyoke, public defenders say. The Shoestring. https://theshoestring.org/2024/08/13/trespassing-charges-create-dragnet-in-holyoke-public-defenders-say/
• Jochem, G. (2024). Did “overserving” at an agawam bar lead to a deadly wrong-way crash? MassLIVE. https://www.masslive.com/westernmass/2024/02/did-overserving-at-an-agawam-bar-lead-to-a-deadly-wrong-way-crash.html
• Jochem, G. (2025). “Want to go down that road, huh?” Videos released of hampden sheriff cocchi’s OUI arrest. MassLIVE. https://www.masslive.com/westernmass/2025/01/want-to-go-down-that-road-huh-videos-released-of-hampden-sheriff-cocchis-oui-arrest.html
• Jochem, G. (2024). Inside understaffing problem at mass. Nursing homes. MassLIVE. https://www.masslive.com/westernmass/2024/07/inside-understaffing-problem-at-mass-nursing-homes.html
• Jochem, G. (2024). “A dog pound would be better.” Inside one of the most-fined nursing homes in mass. MassLIVE. https://www.masslive.com/westernmass/2024/07/a-dog-pound-would-be-better-inside-one-of-the-most-fined-nursing-homes-in-mass.html (CONTENT WARNING: This piece contains descriptions of verbal violence and serious physical neglect, and mentions sexual assault)

References

Dailey, K., Prakash, A., Norman, Z., Nguyen, J., Luo, Z. S., & Cenziper, D. (2026). “A godsend”: ProPublica’s rx inspector tool is helping people find critical safety information on generic drugs. ProPublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/rx-inspector-reshaping-decisions-generic-drugs

Roberts, B. (2026). ProPublica publishes unreleased data on the origins of generic prescription drugs. ProPublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/rx-inspector-generic-drugs-data

Schick, T., & Samayoa, M. (2026). Our reporting showed washington ranks last in green energy growth. Now the state is working to speed it up. ProPublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/washington-renewable-energy-projects-grid-upgrades

Jochem, G. (2025). “Want to go down that road, huh?” Videos released of hampden sheriff cocchi’s OUI arrest. MassLIVE. https://www.masslive.com/westernmass/2025/01/want-to-go-down-that-road-huh-videos-released-of-hampden-sheriff-cocchis-oui-arrest.html

Schick, T., & Samayoa, M. (2025). How the pacific northwest’s dream of green energy fell apart. Oregon Public Broadcasting. https://www.opb.org/article/2025/05/12/oregon-washington-green-energy-bonneville/

Linker, C., Kowal, L., & R., T. (2025). Attacks on health research could cost local economy millions. The Shoestring. https://theshoestring.org/2025/05/09/attacks-on-health-research-could-cost-local-economy-millions/

Petty, O., Deras, Y. M., & Caliandri, A. (2025). Minding the "gap": Low vaccination rates in some local schools could spell trouble. The Shoestring. https://theshoestring.org/2025/06/06/minding-the-gap-low-vaccination-rates-in-some-local-schools-could-spell-trouble/

Zayatz, B. (2025). As wage theft hounds western mass workers, some fight back. The Shoestring. https://theshoestring.org/2025/08/09/as-wage-theft-hounds-western-mass-workers-some-fight-back/

Steier, J. (2025). The playbook used to “prove” vaccines cause autism. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/08/19/opinion/vaccines-autism-evidence.html

Jochem, G. (2024). Did “overserving” at an agawam bar lead to a deadly wrong-way crash? MassLIVE. https://www.masslive.com/westernmass/2024/02/did-overserving-at-an-agawam-bar-lead-to-a-deadly-wrong-way-crash.html

Jochem, G. (2024). “A dog pound would be better.” Inside one of the most-fined nursing homes in mass. MassLIVE. https://www.masslive.com/westernmass/2024/07/a-dog-pound-would-be-better-inside-one-of-the-most-fined-nursing-homes-in-mass.html

Jochem, G. (2024). Inside understaffing problem at mass. Nursing homes. MassLIVE. https://www.masslive.com/westernmass/2024/07/inside-understaffing-problem-at-mass-nursing-homes.html

Duronio, M. (2024). Trespassing charges create “dragnet” in holyoke, public defenders say. The Shoestring. https://theshoestring.org/2024/08/13/trespassing-charges-create-dragnet-in-holyoke-public-defenders-say/

Reyes, N. T., Bhattacharya, S., Report, S., & Wun, T. T. R. (2023). A higher ed game-changer?: Could MassReconnect change college education in massachusetts? Experts say yes. The Daily Hampshire Gazette. https://gazettenet.com/2023/05/28/could-the-massreconnect-program-change-college-education-in-massachusetts-51056620/

Almaraz, V., Georgiou, V., & Li, C. (2023). Combating the crises: Northampton organizations eye ways to address mental health challenges among LGBTQ+ youth. The Daily Hampshire Gazette. https://gazettenet.com/2023/06/16/northampton-organizations-combat-lgbtq-mental-health-crisis-51225706/

Gabbert, E. (2022). A poem (and a painting) about the suffering that hides in plain sight. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/03/06/books/auden-musee-des-beaux-arts.html

Hart, J. (2021). Reporting. In Storycraft: The complete guide to writing narrative nonfiction (pp. 146–162). University of Chicago Press.

Joel K. Bourne, Jr. (2010). Is another deepwater disaster inevitable? National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/gulf-oil-spill0

Wilkerson, I. (2007). Interviewing: Accelerated intimacy. In M. Kramer & W. Call (Eds.), Telling true stories: A nonfiction writers’ guide from the Nieman foundation at Harvard University (pp. 30–33). Penguin.

Wilkerson, I. (2007). Playing fair with subjects. In M. Kramer & W. Call (Eds.), Telling true stories: A nonfiction writers’ guide from the Nieman foundation at Harvard University (pp. 172–176). Penguin.

Metzler, K. (1989). Creative interviewing: The writer’s guide to gathering information by asking questions (3rd ed., pp. 1–23). Boston: Allyn; Bacon.