Hannah Beech, senior correspondent for The New York Times and winner of the 2025 Hugo Shong Reporting on Asia Award, will delve into the emotional complexities of narrative journalism in this session on balancing intimacy with objectivity. Drawing on her recent experience reporting on the
story of an ex-hitman in the Philippines–in addition to several other recent stories–Beech will examine the transactional nature of journalist/source relationships—how we balance the need to gain trust with the obligation to report truthfully, even when those truths might harm or discomfort our sources. She'll explore the ethical challenges of writing about people whose lives are messy and morally complex and discuss how narrative journalists can remain authentic truth-tellers while also striving for intimacy.
