A Brilliant GMO Story

There's a reason why journalism and writing professors implore their students to "show, don't tell." Stories are more deeply felt when they play out with action and dialogue crafted around a narrative. Showing is also a more effective means for imparting the essence of a controversial issue, news event, or research finding. Some journalists have transferred this skill really well to their blogs (like Ed Yong and Deborah Blum). I haven't been able to pull that off here, or in my issue-oriented pieces elsewhere. I tend to activate my story-telling brain only when I'm working on magazine feature stories, where I have a main character or two to draw out. So for example, I did a lot of telling in this 2012 Slatepiece entitled, "GMO Opponents are the Climate Skeptics of the Left." (It rankled many people I normally agree with on most political issues.) Others, such as Michael Specter, ...