Margalit Fox on Life, Death, and the Best Job in Journalism | Conversations with Tyler
Margalit Fox discusses obituary reporting as narrative journalism with Tyler Cowen. These notes cover selected reporting, structure, subject selection, puzzle-solving and writing-advice passages, not the full conversation. Political-history examples, medical questions and grief-related discussion are omitted. Newsroom practices and counts describe her 2016 account, not current New York Times policy or staffing. Full official transcript: https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/margalit-fox/ . Topic labels are untimed.
Executive Summary (TL;DR)
Margalit Fox discusses obituary reporting as narrative journalism with Tyler Cowen. These notes cover selected reporting, structure, subject selection, puzzle-solving and writing-advice passages, not the full conversation. Political-history examples, medical questions and grief-related discussion are omitted. Newsroom practices and counts describe her 2016 account, not current New York Times policy or staffing. Full official transcript: https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/margalit-fox/ . Topic labels are untimed.
Key Takeaways
Begin without assuming you know the person
Fox describes reporters starting from an agnostic position, particularly with less famous subjects. Families and friends supply long acquaintance, but their information still needs checking. Familiarity is a source of evidence rather than a substitute for verification.