the best enterprise/project writers

[spankys]

I'm trying to do some more enterprise work at my paper and was wondering if anyone had any good recs for enterprise or project reporters who are must-reads?

There obviously aren't as many of them as their once were, but any recs would be appreciated!

-spankys

 

[Double Down]

Sports, or all subjects?

 

[35in44]

Just my opinion, but Nathan Fenno is very, very good over at The Washington Times.

 

[spankys]

my initial thought was sports, but most sports enterprise takes on important elements of non-sports enterprise, so either-or.

 

[Versatile]

Is there a particular age group you're targeting? Circulation? Region? Does it matter if they're underrated or overrated or not rated at all?

 

[Orange Hat Bobcat]

Start with the whole Tampa Bay Times enterprise team.

 

[spankys]

Is there a particular age group you're targeting? Circulation? Region? Does it matter if they're underrated or overrated or not rated at all?

Ha that was hilarous you trolled me so bad lol smh omg. Thanks for the help.

 

[Double Down]

He's actually trying to help you, clown car. Again, narrowing it down would help.

 

[spankys]

Ok, I don't think he was trying to help. But to answer the questions to my question, I don't care how old they are, what city they write in or what their circulation size is. I was just curious if anyone had a sports enterprise writer they enjoyed, as I was hoping to find some good ones to follow. If none come to mind or this category is too broad, that's fine.

 

[Versatile]

What kind of enterprise? Trend stories? Investigative work? Social issues? Long-form features?

Most journalists these days do some degree of enterprise. And enterprise is defined differently. And most newspapers that have "enterprise" positions turn those guys into breaking news reporters and sidebar writers who get to do one actual enterprise piece a month.

 

[Moderator1]

Just my opinion, but Nathan Fenno is very, very good over at The Washington Times.

Not that I'm unbiased here, but I agree.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/staff/nathan-fenno/


Go find the concussion piece he did in late June. Or the August story on the paralympic shooter. Or the September story on quarterbacks in D.C. Just for a few examples. Or last summer on Livan Hernandez. I could go on and on.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Juliet Macur.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Oh, and Dan Wetzel and Charles Robinson, of course.

And, magazine-wise, George Dohrmann at Sports Illustrated.

(Of course, all of SI's writers could probably qualify as "enterprise" writers in some way, particularly if they were writing the same material for a newspaper. But I'm thinking more about people who combine writing, shoe-leather reporting, a dash of anonymous sourcing to get things going, and some form of number crunching or document sifting.)

 

[Azrael]

Not sports.

Dan Barry.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/14/us/this-land-elyria-ohio.html#/#donnas-diner

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/14/us/this-land-elyria-ohio.html#/#elyrian-landscape

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/14/us/this-land-elyria-ohio.html#/#elyria-then-elyria-now

 

[writingump]

I was just getting ready to say Charles Robinson.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Not sports.

Dan Barry.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/14/us/this-land-elyria-ohio.html#/#donnas-diner

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/14/us/this-land-elyria-ohio.html#/#elyrian-landscape

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/14/us/this-land-elyria-ohio.html#/#elyria-then-elyria-now

http://gawker.com/5951763/a-cloying-tale-of-small-town-americana-by-dan-barry

 

[LongTimeListener]

Shocking that Gawker would hate something that everyone else quite liked. They're usually so un-contrarian.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Shocking that Gawker would hate something that everyone else quite liked. They're usually so un-contrarian.

In other breaking news, Slate trumpeted a counter-intuitive conclusion today.

 

[Azrael]

Who knows America or Americans better than Gawker*?




*nearly everyone, unless by "America" you mean "Elizabeth Street," and by "Americans" you mean the four classmates from UVa you now share your Greenpoint apartment with.

 

[Double Down]

http://gawker.com/5951763/a-cloying-tale-of-small-town-americana-by-dan-barry

Oh look, the kids who used to heckle from the back of class during earnest homework presentations are all grows up now!