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Through the Journalism Department, five of us had the opportunity to go to the Boston University Narrative Conference this weekend. It was called The Power of Narrative: Storytelling Journalism goes Digital.

We had the opportunity to hear from and meet some amazing journalists and writers. Tracy Kidder, Ann Friedman, and Dan Grossman were there, to name a few.

It reignited my passion for journalism because I learned about a lot of creative, in-depth journalism opportunities. There is a multimedia site called The Atavist that reports on real issues in creative ways. You can get it on the iPhone or iPad. Maisie Crow, an independent filmmaker, collaborated with them for a documentary on the last abortion clinic in Mississippi.

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I’ve been worried longform journalism is dying, but it’s alive and well. It all depends on where you look. I sat in on a session with Jina Moore, who writes a lot for the Christian Science Monitor. She talked about turning topics into stories. In another session, social media guru Ann Friedman, also the final keynote speaker, talked about how to use social media as a journalist.

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We also had some free time to explore Boston and Cambridge. It’s a beautiful area. We got to see adorable neighborhoods, cobblestone streets, Harvard, and the ocean.

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