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The Protojournalist: An NPR Project

Library of Congress

Seeing journalism changing. Storytelling, too.

Looking for new ways to tell stories. Like looking for alternative energies.

Stories are found everywhere – in a game, in graffiti, in a list, in a painting, in a sunset. In a face. In a life. On a screen. New tools create new ways to tell stories.

We can break news and break barriers at the same time.

The Protojournalist project is dedicated to the exploration of story – auditory, interactive, visual, written. Story as instant conversation, as chart, as poetry, as song, as movie, as photo, as sound, as widget, as something we've yet to imagine.

Can you tell a tale in three photos? Or set a news story to the tune of a Broadway melody? Let's experiment with starter stories. Quickburst stories. Backward stories. Palindromic stories.

Stretch the language; not the truth. Provide proof; be provocative. Stories can be fractional — and factual.

Let's imagine a future for storytelling and journalism that is evolving. Evocative. Eclectic. Engaging. Energizing. Innovative. Inquiring. Inclusive. Inspiring.

Not exactly sure what all of this means, or will mean in the fastcoming future. One thing is for sure: We are all part of the story.

Email:protojournalist@npr.org

Twitter: @NPRtpj

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Linton Weeks joined NPR in the summer of 2008, as its national correspondent for Digital News. He immediately hit the campaign trail, covering the Democratic and Republican National Conventions; fact-checking the debates; and exploring the candidates, the issues and the electorate.