Your First Byline

1 day ago | yourfirstbyline.substack.com | Ryan Teague Beckwith

I could run this series for the next 20 years and you’re not going to find me put Strunk and White’s “The Elements of Style” on here. For one thing, you’ve probably already been assigned it. (For real, it’s the ninth-most assigned book on college journalism syllabi.)For another, I’m just bored by it. There are some good writing tips in there, sure, but there’s also a bunch of stuff I’d rather skip over.

2 days ago | yourfirstbyline.substack.com | Ryan Teague Beckwith

What is your current job? Since November 2022, I have been the politics reporter for the Kentucky Lantern. We are a non-profit news outlet that is part of States Newsroom. I often describe this as my dream job, as I am in a position to cover policy makers in my home state for fellow Kentuckians while making information accessible and free. What was your first byline? My first byline that I remember being extremely proud of was in the Greenup Beacon, which was one of my local newspapers.

3 days ago | yourfirstbyline.substack.com | Ryan Teague Beckwith

What is your current job? I'm an assignment editor in The Washington Post's Audience department. I manage part of our social team and have spent a considerable amount of time leading our team's efforts on Instagram. What was your first byline? My first non-student byline was at my first job here in D.C. But the most meaningful first byline for me was the first time a photograph of mine appeared in my tiny local newspaper in rural western Kentucky.

4 days ago | yourfirstbyline.substack.com | Ryan Teague Beckwith

What is your current job? I am a freelance reporter who covers health, business, and culture. I specialize in investigative stories involving the ethics of health businesses and vulnerable patient populations; I recently published a front-page story in The New York Times on an expensive lifestyle program marketed to people hoping to "reverse" Alzheimer's disease. I am also an adjunct faculty member at New York University's Arthur L.

5 days ago | yourfirstbyline.substack.com | Ryan Teague Beckwith

What is your current job? Staff writer and co-owner at Defector Media. What was your first byline? My first real reported byline was this story about a strange, self-repairing jellyfish—after losing an arm, the jellyfish simply rearranged their arms to regain radial symmetry they need to survive in the ocean. I wrote it while I was an intern for Scientific American, an internship I was thoroughly unprepared for.