Patrick Radden Keefe, in conversation at The Globe

Investigative journalism relies on strategic patience, deep-dive reporting, and the ability to humanize complex systems. Patrick Radden Keefe, a staff writer for *The New Yorker*, emphasizes that the most compelling stories emerge from persistent, in-person engagement rather than online research. His process involves creating detailed outlines during the reporting phase to impose discipline on expansive narratives, ensuring that side characters and digressions serve the central story rather than cluttering it. In an era of shrinking attention spans and AI-generated content, high-quality long-form journalism offers a necessary, verifiable alternative to digital noise. By maintaining transparency with sources—even when dealing with dangerous individuals—and utilizing narrative techniques to hook readers, journalists can create work that remains essential, proving that deep, human-centered storytelling remains a powerful tool for uncovering truth.