The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University is the primary journalism institution at Harvard. The foundation is also the home of Nieman Reports, a quarterly journal on journalism issues. The journal was founded in 1947. In 2008, the foundation created the Nieman Journalism Lab, an effort to investigate future models that could support quality journalism.
Nieman Journalism Lab
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Nieman Reports
- by Kyrylo BeskorovainyiOne letter of the alphabet can represent hundreds of years of the suppression of Ukrainian identity. I carry such a letter everywhere I go: the “s” in my last name, Beskorovainyi. In the Ukrainian language, the prefix "bes" doesn't exist; the correct Ukrainian spelling is with the letter "z." The prefix "bes," however, is common in Russian. So is my last name Russian or Ukrainian? The surprising thing is, even though I had struggled for years with clerks, teachers, and officials always questioning if there was a mistake in the spelling of my last name, I had never once questioned […]
- Jason Rezaian, NF ’17, is the director of Press Freedom Initiatives at The Washington Post. He served as the paper’s Tehran bureau chief from 2012 to 2016, during which time he spent 544 days in an Iranian prison — 49 of them in solitary confinement — following his 2014 arrest on false charges of espionage. In addition to writing a newsletter and articles on press freedom and individual journalists under threat, Rezaian leads the Post's Press Freedom Partnership, a coalition of nonprofit organizations dedicated to promoting independent media worldwide. He speaks about his new role and the need to cover […]
- by Marigo FarrJournalist and author Mónica Guzmán, a 2016 Nieman Fellow, believes trust can't be formed by one side demonizing the other. But that’s often what those on either side of the political divide try to do, whether it’s a family debating at the dinner table, talking heads sparring on TV, or partisan media outlets disparaging a broad swath of the public. This mentality simply takes us further from understanding each other, Guzmán says, and it entrenches us in our assumptions and judgments, and our belief that we operate with different values than the other side. More often than not, we share […]
- Joy Mayer, the founder and director of Trusting News, has spent a decade studying how audiences relate to journalism — including how their trust is earned and lost. A former professor at the Missouri School of Journalism, Mayer now helps newsrooms bridge gaps and build stronger connections with the communities they aim to serve. Joy Mayer The idea for Trusting News, which was founded in 2016, came about when Mayer was advising a cohort of student journalists on their local reporting assignments. She said she noticed a troubling trend: community members did not accord journalists the same faith as she […]
- by Elias SchisgallSonel Cutler had seen her fair share of sensitive stories. A senior at Northeastern University in Boston, she had reported on the fallout from Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel for the campus newspaper, and led it through coverage of a pro-Palestinian encampment that culminated in nearly 100 arrests. But as the Trump administration began its crackdown on international students associated with pro-Palestinian campus movements, Cutler faced a new challenge: an influx of requests from worried students that The Huntington News anonymize quotes, remove photos and take down some articles entirely for their safety. In her final two weeks […]
- by Line VaabenWhen I tell fellow journalists about my work — especially my job title: “existential editor” — they are often puzzled. Some automatically assume I hold a degree in philosophy. But being an existential editor is not a philosophical exercise, and I do not write or edit with thinkers like Søren Kierkegaard or Jean-Paul Sartre in mind. When I explain the nature of my work, many colleagues sigh with envy, wishing their media outlet had such a role, or a team with the same focus. At a time when journalism is increasingly frantic and fast-paced, the word "existential" clearly resonates with […]
- by Samantha HenryA coalition of national student media advisory organizations has issued a rare alert to student journalists, revising long-standing guidance on journalistic practices in light of what it calls an “unprecedented” threat to the free exercise of student speech on campuses across the United States. The alert recommends that student media organizations “revisit their policies on takedown requests and anonymous sources, particularly for those whose immigration status may make them targets for their lawful speech.” It also advises being transparent with sources and audiences about anonymous bylines and sourcing, and educating staff on these issues. The group of signatories — comprising […]
- by KC ChengAs looming threats of a renewed full-scale civil war are ramping up in South Sudan, the country is already grappling with the ongoing fallout from multiple prior crises. Since August 2024, South Sudan — the world’s youngest nation — has faced its worst floods in 60 years — the continuing impact of which is plunging the country deeper into a worsening human and climate disaster. In addition, fighting raging across the northern border in neighboring Sudan has already driven an estimated 750,000 civilians into South Sudan, where many communities are in dire need of assistance. Already facing extreme food insecurity, […]
- by Katherine Reynolds LewisThe first few months of 2025 have been brutal for journalism, with layoffs announced by CNN, Vox Media, HuffPost, and NBC, and likely more on the horizon. The pace of these announcements rivals the carnage of last winter, when at least 15 news organizations announced mass layoffs. It’s heartbreaking to see hundreds of journalists join the nearly 10,000 who have been laid off in the last three years — that’s more than 1 in 10 editors and reporters employed in our industry, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. After surveying hundreds of laid-off journalists in my role as founder […]
- by Obey Martin ManayitiNews of the death of Geoffrey Nyarota, a towering figure in Zimbabwean journalism, has reverberated across the globe among the countless journalists, like myself, whom he inspired to follow in his path. We were all saddened to learn that Nyarota, who founded Zimbabwe’s largest independent daily newspaper and fought tirelessly for press freedom in our country, died on March 22, 2025, at age 74, from colon cancer. He leaves behind a legacy of investigative journalism that inspired generations of Zimbabwean reporters with his pioneering work on exposing corruption and fighting for press freedoms. Nyarota burst onto the scene in the […]