Chicago ReaderWashington Post reporter and "genius grant" recipient
Kate Boo says she took a leave a year and a half ago -- after winning a Pulitzer -- to work on a New Yorker story, then extended her newsroom break to write a book. "I took a leave in part to separate myself from the newsroom culture and conventions," she tells
Michael Miner. "There's something about
the competitive nature of newsroom culture that made me happy to be outside it. But that's not a categorical criticism of newspapers as much as a reflection of my own wussy temperament."
PLUS: Miner says of the Sun-Times' new publication targeted to young readers: "The Sun-Times' last attempt to target the 18-to-34 market was the disastrous Next supplement, which lasted six months. The goal this time
isn't so much to succeed as to help the Tribune fail."
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Sun-Times scribe: Forget 18-34 demo, pursue "hysterical teenage girls"
