Media Circus: Remarkable reporting, riveting writing, the best journalism of 2018 (2024)

Choosing the best writing and reporting in a given year is an impossible task, as well as an entirely subjective enterprise. But it’s also wildly fun because you get to re-read so many great pieces.

Below, are 150 or so pieces that impacted me as a reader in 2018. I could have easily chosen many more. I’m sure I left out many great pieces, and I intentionally did not include those from my colleagues at The Athletic. The work below is a reflection of the publications and writers I read or follow on social media. The stories are not ranked, nor categorized. It is not a competition. Sports and non-sports stories are listed below. (Here were my choices for 2017. I hope you find something that impacts you too.)

Patrick Radden Keefe of the New Yorker on Astrid Holleeder, a lawyer and author from Amsterdam who now lives in hiding after implicating her own brother in multiple murders. An incredible story masterfully told.
The Search For Jackie Wallace: Stunning work from Ted Jackson of NOLA.com and perhaps the best sports story I read in 2018.
Twelve years ago, Amber Wyatt reported her rape. Few believed her. Her hometown turned against her. The authorities failed her. From Elizabeth Bruenig of The Washington Post.
The Untold Story of Otto Warmbier, American Hostage. By Doug Bock Clark of GQ.
The teenager told police all about his gang, MS-13. In return, he was slated for deportation and marked for death. Amazing reporting from Hannah Dreier of Pro Publica.
The 1967 blaze at Cornell University killed nine, including members of a fast-track Ph.D. program. No one was ever charged, but an amateur investigator thinks he knows who set it. Fascinating piece from N. R. Kleinfield.
Son, Placed for Adoption, Leads Birth Parents to Altar 36 Years Later. By Natalie Shutler of the New York Times.
Hammacher Schlemmer: the World’s Most Peculiar Company. Via Nick Greene of Chicago Magazine.
From Gizmodo’s Kashmir Hill: When a Stranger Decides to Destroy Your Life.
The Case of Jane Doe Ponytail. A haunting piece by Dan Barry and Jeffrey E. Singer of the New York Times.
Tremendous reporting by Pro Publica’s Pamela Colloff of what looks to be an innocent man.Part I& Part II
This was reprinted in 2018: From U.S. News: John McCain, Prisoner of War: A First-Person Account.
At Japan’s suicide cliffs, he’s walked more than 600 people back from the edge.A sobering piecefrom Jonathan Kaiman of theLos Angeles Times.
By Manuel Roig-Franzia of The Washington Post: How a 50-year-old photo mystery was solved. Well, at least half of it.
An 8:33 video from the New York Times that documents the murder of Jamal Khashoggi — spellbinding and convincing.
From The Bitter Southerner’s Keith Pandolfi: On the most underappreciated burger in America — the Ollieburger.
A Pulitzer Prize-worthy investigation from Julie K. Brown of the Miami Herald. A decade before #MeToo, a multimillionaire sex offender from Florida got the ultimate break.
From Nicholas Kristof, Jessia Ma and Stuart A. Thompson for The New York Times: Was Kevin Cooper Framed for Murder?
Via The Guardian’s Xan Rice: The murder that shook Iceland.
The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly in his Georgia hometown. From The Washington Post’s Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan.
One of the best sports profiles I read this year: ESPN’s Bonnie Ford on Petra Kvitova.
Via Jeff Maysh of The Daily Beast: How an ex-cop rigged McDonald’s Monopoly game and stole millions.
Remarkable series on Aaron Hernandez by The Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team.
By Kaleigh Rogers of Motherboard: What It’s Like to Live in America Without Broadband Internet.
An acclaimed American charity said it was saving some of the world’s most vulnerable girls from sexual exploitation. But from the very beginning, girls were being raped. By ProPublica’s Finlay Young.
Poignant words from Alex Belth for Men’s Health: “My wife Em has lived with chronic illness for 23 years and in this essay for Men’s Health, I pay tribute to her perseverance and our love for each other.”
A shocking story of police and lethal force. Just not the one you might expect. From Joe Sextonof Pro Publica.
From Joshua Hunt for Pacific Standard: The secret betrayal that sealed Nike’s special influence over the University of Oregon.
We asked 12 mass killers: ‘What would have stopped you?’ Via Alex Hannaford of GQ England.
From Frontline and ProPublica’s Alec MacGillis: How Struggling Dayton, Ohio Reveals the Chasm Among American Cities.
Fascinating piece via Peter Kornbluh of Politico: The untold story of how Lisa Howard’s intimate diplomacy with Cuba’s revolutionary leader changed the course of the Cold War.
A solitary journey across Antarctica. By David Grann of The New Yorker.
She Posted a Bad Yelp Review. Then Her Nightmare Began. From Kate Briqueletof The Daily Beast:
From the New York Times: The Story of the Thailand Cave Rescue.
Detroit Free Press writer Jeff Seidel on former Red Wings top pick Joe Murphy being homeless in Canada.
When your job is to constantly share your life, even your worst moments are an opportunity to please your audience. By Adrian Chen of The New Yorker.
Via Mary Ormsby of the Toronto Star: Ben Johnson’s 1988 Olympic drug test contains altered lab codes and hand-scrawled revisions. And almost no one has seen it until now.
Chevy Chase is sober and wants to work. The problem is no one wants to work with him. From Geoff Edgers of The Washington Post.
An extraordinary piece from Rob Tibbets, thefather of Molly Tibbets, for the Des Moines Register.
The Ringer’s Jordan Ritter Conn on Enes Kanter, now a stranger (and worse) in his home country.
Fantastic obit from The Washington Post: Freddie Oversteegen, Dutch resistance fighter who killed Nazis through seduction, dies at 92.
From Lee Jenkins, of Sports Illustrated: Legend of Lou-Will: The NBA’s Most Fascinating Bucket-Getter.
Via McKay Coppins of The Atlantic: The Man Who Broke Politics.
Gutting piece by Andrea Chamblee: How to keep going after a mass shooter kills your husband.
The major league shot he chased his entire life finally arrived. Then it drowned: From Dave Sheinin of The Washington Post.
How Goop’s haters made Gwyneth Paltrow’s company worth $250 million. By Taffy Brodesser-Akner of the New York Times Magazine.
Six women accuse the CBS CEO Les Moonves of harassment and intimidation, and dozens more describe abuse at his company. By Ronan Farrow of the New Yorker.
From GQ’s Michael Scott Moore: This is what it is like to be captured by pirates.
The Isis Files. By Rukmini Callimachi of the New York Times.
Via Tom Scocca of hmmdaily.com: Your Real Biological Clock Is You’re Going to Die.
Kevin Love, for The Players Tribune,on suffering panic attacks.
From Juliet Macur ofThe New York Times:Suicides, Drug Addiction and High School Football.
ESPN’s Mina Kimes profiled Jacksonville corner Jalen Ramsey.
The DNA didn’t match. The witnesses weren’t sure. But the prosecution persisted. Terrific reporting by Christian Sheckler of the South Bend Tribune and Ken Armstrong of ProPublica.
From Ben Detrick of The Ringer: The Curious Case of Bryan Colangelo and the Secret Twitter Account.
Stories of humanity and help amid the Danforth shooting: From Katie Daubs and Tamar Harris of the Toronto Star.
Via Ed Caesar of The New Yorker: The Reputation-Laundering Firm That Ruined Its Own Reputation.
Tales from the Supreme Court basketball gym. Great work from Stanley Kay of Sports Illustrated.
Jesmyn Ward forThe Atlantic, on how racism is “built into the bones” of Mississippi, the state where she grew up.
Bleacher Report’s Mirin Fader wrote a terrific profile ofLaMelo and LaVar Ballin Prienai, Lithuania.
From Jason fa*gone of Huffington Post High Line: Gaming the lottery:seemed as good a retirement plan as any.
SI’s Tim Layden, on Justify winning the Triple Crown.
Tremendous reporting from Luke O’Brien of The Huffington Post: The real identity of “Ricky Vaughn,” a powerful alt-right internet troll.
From GQ’s Daniel Riley: The Great High School Impostor.
ESPN’s Ivan Maisel, on grieving for his son, Max.
You Know He Got That Big Dick Energy. From Allison P. Davis of The Cut.
A homeless woman became a fixture to passers-by at a handful of spots in Manhattan, including this bench on Fifth Avenue. But in the summer of 2016, she vanished. By Ben Weiser ofNYT.
Kansas City Chiefs running backs coach Deland McCullough went searching for his biological parents. He found them where he never would have expected. From Sarah Spain of ESPN.
Remarkable work from Reuters:How Myanmar forces burned, looted and killed in a remote village.
From Jennifer Mendelsohn and Peter A. Shulman of The Washington Post: How social media spread a historical lie.
By Laura Trujillo, for USA Today: My mom’s suicide changed everything. Here’s how I found hope again.
Doug Schifter waged a one-man campaign to stop Uber from putting his fellow black-car drivers out of business. Then he decided to take his own life. From Jessica Bruder of New York Magazine.
Via Eli Saslow of The Washington Post: Nothing on this page is real: How lies become truth in online America.
Sobering work from Mitty Mirrer, for the New York Times Magazine: Letters From the Children of Fallen Service Members to the Parents They Lost.
As Sven Kramer cracked, Canada’s Ted-Jan Bloemen began to cry, overcome with joy. In the stands, his wife Marlinde began to cry, too. But she was overcome by something else. From Toronto Star’s Bruce Arthur.
Via Jessica Garrison of Buzzfeed: The Life Of One Of America’s Bloodiest Hitmen.
Britni de la Cretaz, for Narratively, on the hidden history of gay woman who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
Jessica Pressler of New York Magazine on a con woman living big in New York City.
Via Splinter’s Molly Osberg: How not to die in America.
The Atlantic’s Franklin Foer on Paul Manafort.
Thomas Golianopoulos, for The Ringer, on The Undertaker.
Inside One of America’s Last Pencil Factories. By Sam Anderson and Christopher Payne of The New York Times.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorston Kyle Korver’s season of sorrow.
Gang raped at 17; therapy at 65. Remarkable piece by Leonora LaPeter Anton of the Tampa Bay Times.
From Jasonfa*gone, forThe Washingtonian: The Amazing Story of the Russian Defector Who Changed His Mind.
Brilliant tribute by Michael Farber in the Montreal Gazette for Red Fisher, the legendary hockey writer who died at 91.
Reid Forgrave, for the New York Times Magazine, on the biggest lottery scam in US history.
The Jan. 24 front page of the Detroit Free Press.

Thursday's front page of the Detroit Free Press. pic.twitter.com/FN0X3Bo9fd
See Also
The Republican from Springfield, Massachusetts Argonath Content for ED&D by deator DUNE—Original Serialized Version The Winds of Winter - Chapter 21 - SerSourPigeon - A Song of Ice and Fire
— Detroit Free Press (@freep) January 25, 2018

The Economist obit on George H.W. Bush.
Diana Moskovitz, for Jezebel, on the Bill Cosby coverage.
A Play Call for the Ages and a (Backup) QB That Amazes: How the Eagles Won Super Bowl LII. By Greg Bishop and Ben Baskin of Sports Illustrated.
My Life as a New York Times Reporter in the Shadow of the War on Terror. From James Risen, a former New York Times investigative reporter covering the CIA, now writing for The Intercept
High craft from Taffy Brodesser-Akner, writing for the New York Times Magazine: Tonya Harding wants an apology:
From Erica L. Green and Katie Benner of the New York Times: Louisiana School Made Headlines for Sending Black Kids to Elite Colleges. Here’s the Reality.
Fight Club: A Miami Herald investigation into Florida’s juvenile justice system.
Via Nathan Fenno of the L.A. Times: Who killed Lorenzen Wright?
David Roth of Deadspin on Donald Trump and stories about himself.
SI’s Jon Wertheim and Jessica Luther co-produced this report on a culture of harassment inside the Dallas Mavericks.
A family bought their dream house. But according to the creepy letters they started to get, they weren’t the only ones interested in it: Great piece from Reeves Wiedman.
Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Fought Through Crisis. Remarkable reporting by New York Times reporters Sheera Frenkel, Nicholas Confessore, Cecilia Kang, Matthew Rosenberg and Jack Nicas.
Tom Junod, for espnW, on the dark truth of Auburn softball.
Via Jana G. Pruden of The Globe and Mail (Canada): Murder, lies and a missing deer head.
From Robert Klemko of The MMQB: Ray Lewis, and the Bubble That Has Sheltered Him.
How Larry Nassar abused hundreds of gymnasts and eluded justice for decades. By Tim Evans, Joe Guillen, Gina Kaufman, Marisa Kwiatkowski, Matt Mencarini and Mark Alesia of the Indy Star.
From Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports: The epic ALCS Game 4, featuring Andrew Benintendi’s brilliant adjustment and Jose Altuve’s home run that wasn’t.
Via Deadspin’s Nick Martin: The Full Story Behind Brandeis University Firing Its Basketball Coach.
Targeted: A family and the quest to stop the next school shooter, by Bethany Barnes of The Oregonian.
Via Hua Hsu of The New Yorker: How 88Rising is making a place for Asians in hip-hop.
ESPN’sWright Thompson on Ichiro Suzuki.
For Copa Libertadores at a crossroads, a weekend to forget. By Rory Smith of the New York Times.
How I Stopped Worrying And Learned To Love The Abuse, Harassment and Trashing That Has Been My Daily Reality For The Past Nine Years. By Laurie Penny, for Longreads.
Did a Rave Review Really Shut Down Portland Burger Bar Stanich’s? Maybe It Was the Owner’s Legal Troubles. From Matthew Singer of Willamette Week.
Via Amy Wallaceof GQ: The true story of a ring of thieves who stole millions of dollars’ worth of luxury watches—and the special agent who brought them down.
Dear Mr. President. By Jeanne Marie Laskas, for The Guardian.
Via Matthew Campbell, for Bloomberg Businessweek: The Unsolved Murder of An Unusual Billionaire.
By Darius Miles, for The Players Tribune: What The Hell Happened To Darius Miles.
Frontline’s two-part serieson Facebook was remarkable.
Via The Washington Post’s Sally Jenkins: Maryland regents are mulling DJ Durkin’s future. There’s only one choice.
How we went from “racist” to “racially tinged.” From Lawrence B. Glickman, for Boston Review.
A devastating piece from Peter DeMarco of The Boston Globe Magazine on the death of his wife.
Greg Bishop of Sports Illustrated on why Jake Locker stepped away from the NFL.
From Washington Post writer Jessica Contrera: Clinton accuser Kathleen Willey fights foreclosure and a legacy of being doubted.
Via Deadspin’s Dave McKenna: Patrick Nero, Mike Lonergan, And The Scandal That Rocked George Washington.
Rolling Stone writer Stephen Rodrick wrote a terrific profile of actor Johnny Depp.
An incredible World Cup Guide from The Guardian.
Harrowing Facebook post from sports writer Natalie Pierre, on her attempted suicide.
From PBS Frontline:Documenting Hate: Charlottesville.
From SI’s Chris Ballard: Gary Plummer Gets His Mind Right.
From Jana Pruden of The (Toronto) Globe and Mail: The day I met a serial killer.
From Alex Horton of The Washington Post: The spot where Emmett Till’s body was found is marked by this sign. People keep shooting it up.
By Wesley Morris of the New York Times: Aretha Franklin Had Power. Did We Truly Respect It?
From The Atavist’s Josh Dean: In August 1976, North Korean soldiers stationed in the DMZ hacked two U.S. officers to death with axes.
I got a story to tell. By Steve Francis, for The Players Tribune.
By May Jeong, for Wired: The Final Terrible Voyage of the Nautilus.
From Michael McKnight, for Sports Illustrated, on Percy Harvin’s struggle with anxiety disorder.
Allegations that Richard Nixon beat his wife, Pat Nixon, have circulated for decades without serious examination by the journalists who covered his presidency. Via Elon Green, for Longreads.
The inside story of a toxic culture at Maryland football. From ESPN’s Heather Dinich, Adam Rittenberg and Tom VanHaaren.
From The Guardian’s Chris McGreal: How Dollar General took over rural America.
Watching the World Cup in a War Zone. By Jere Longman of the New York Times.
Via John Branch of the New York Times: My son and his cubes have been inseparable for years. Like hundreds of other children, he found his tribe at the Cubing USA nationals.
From Garrett M. Graff, for Esquire: Minutes to Live: When the Nuclear Push Alert Is Not a Mistake.
The Fall of Travis Kalanick Was a Lot Weirder and Darker Than You Thought. Via Eric Newcomer and Brad Stone of Bloomberg Businessweek.
From Joshua Yaffa of The New Yorker: How Bill Browder became Russia’s most wanted man.
Why Did the New York Review of Books Publish That Jian Ghomeshi Essay? We asked the editor. By Issac Chotiner.
You buy a purse at Walmart. There’s a note inside from a “Chinese prisoner.” Now what? Via Rossalyn A. Warren for Vox.
The Tower, from Andrew O’Hagan of The London Review of Books.
My Dad painted the iconic cover for Jethro Tull’s ‘Aqualung,’ and It’s Haunted Him Ever Since. From Robert Silverman, for The Outline.
From Lachlan Cartwright of The Daily Beast: The New York Times, NBC, and ‘60 Minutes’ Bigwigs Hired These Media Assassins to Fight #MeToo Stories.
A scientist’s work linking minds and machines helps a paralyzed woman escape her body. From Raffi Khatchadourian of the New Yorker.
From Jaeah J. Lee of Topic: Magazine: The real cost of working in the house of mouse.
Via William Brennan for New York Magazine: Worst Roommate Ever.
SI’s Tim Layden, on John Carlos and Tommie Smith, 50 years later.
From Vulture’s David Marchese: In Conversation: Kathleen Turner.
The Capital Gazette (Annapolis, MD) put out a paper on June 29:

Yes, we’re putting out a damn paper tomorrow. https://t.co/ScNvIK1A4R
— Capital Gazette (@capgaznews) June 29, 2018

(Top photo: Jasper Colt/USA TODAY)