Unforgettable 2024 stories

The presidential election; interest rates; the war in Gaza; the solar eclipse; Moo Deng the baby pygmy hippo: The news stories that dominated 2024 demonstrated an America at the crossroads of political, economic and cultural change. As the year comes to an end, our journalists are taking a step back to assess the news that made 2024.

Happy Holidays! 👋 Nicole Fallert here and welcome to Your Week, our newsletter exclusively for Paste BN subscribers (that's you!). This week, we talked with Paste BN's newsroom (we everyone got involved!) about the most memorable stories our journalists wrote this year.

Hope you're enjoying a restful holiday weekend. Here are a few headlines from Paste BN to dive into (hot chocolate in hand) ☕:

• You may feel lonely during the holidays, but you're not alone.
• Does no tax on tips help workers?
• The artificial intelligence bubble may burst in 2025.
• These are the 2025 financial resolutions to make right now.
• Don't worry skiers: Climate change isn't making your favorite winter sport disappear.
• Here's our round-up of the best books we read this year.

The stories that made 2024

Looking back on the year, I wanted to reflect on the incredible work our journalists have done. So I asked the entire newsroom one question: "What was the most memorable story you wrote in 2024?"

Many of my colleagues responded that such a question was "too hard to answer." Amid an outpouring of news across a range of issue areas this year, from BRAT summer to interest rates to alien hearings in Congress (yes, that happened), pinpointing one big moment isn't an easy ask for a reporter. I selected a few answers from our journalists to share below (and make sure to click on the stories and explore these projects!):

Sarah Wire, senior national political reporter, highlighted her conversations with citizen advocates who were training to disrupt the 2024 elections:

"Sitting in a crowd of hard-core MAGA supporters listening as they learned about how to take over public meetings and block certification of the 2024 presidential election rocked me on my heels. It was the culmination of years of work that began before I joined USAT." This is what the voters told Wire.

Tom Vanden Brook, Pentagon correspondent, said he won't forget nailing the scoop about a candidate's false claims:

"My colleague Beth Beyer and I investigated the claims of combat experiences by Hung Cao, a candidate for the U.S. Senate from Virginia. We matched records obtained from the Navy with the claim Cao had made on the campaign trail. We vetted our findings with current and former military officials and determined he had embellished his record." Here's what Paste BN found.

Lauren Villagran, an immigration reporter, said it was most memorable to explain the complexity of the border:

"At his campaign rallies, former President Donald Trump always said two things in quick succession: that he would "drill, baby, drill" and massively deport immigrants in the U.S. But I knew that the country's oilfields are filled with immigrant workers laboring in the hardest, dirtiest jobs, many with fake papers. We went deep into the heart of the Permian Basin to find out." Villagran reported from the field.

Darren Samuelsohn, congress & campaigns editor, and Karen Weintraub, Pulse Team editor, found a place called Hope:

Weintraub: "Paste BN's 'A Town Called Hope' series reflected the real challenges facing people in a range of small towns across America, the kinds of places we rarely cover."

Samuelsohn: "This package of stories stood out to me as one of the things I'll remember most about 2024. The stories are such compelling reads as the reporters sought out whether hope was alive in America during a historically divisive election year."

Read the A Place Called Hope series.

Scoring a sit-down with the king of R&B, Usher, marked 2024 for Anika Reed, senior entertainment news editor:

"After building relationships with his team for over a year, I got the exclusive opportunity to shadow pop and R&B superstar Usher for two days leading up to his Past Present Future tour, his first in about a decade. As Usher was coming off of a landmark moment as Super Bowl halftime show headliner and amid a career renaissance, interviewing him and stepping into his tour world was special, and we were the only outlet with this opportunity." Read Paste BN's exclusive interview with Usher.

Rachel G. Bowers, deputy director of Paste BN Sports Network, will remember how 2024 was all about teamwork:

"It was a career highlight to work on our Simone Biles coverage at the Paris Olympics. To watch one of the greatest athletes ever compete on the biggest stage and then craft stories with Paste BN's Nancy Armour and Tom Schad, two of the greatest sports journalists I've worked, with was a true privilege and an experience I will never forget. My favorite moment was watching Simone and Jordan Chiles bow to Rebeca Andrade after the Brazilian won gold on floor. It was the first podium of all Black women in Olympic history, and Biles and Chiles wanted to give Andrade her flowers. It was beautiful." Look back at Bowers' Olympic coverage.

Eve Chen, senior consumer travel reporter, elevated underrepresented voices to show the people behind America's national parks:

"For all the beauty shots of national parks you see on social media, you rarely see the people of these lands, whose ancestors once called them home. I was incredibly grateful to hear and learn from the Native American cultural practitioners featured in my story and to share their stories with our readers." Chen's story reminds us that national parks are about people, too.

Taylor Swift reporter Bryan West will take with him the human impact of the pop star's career-spanning Eras Tour:

"Taylor Swift ripped off her heel at an Eras Tour show and threw it into the crowd. The fan who caught it used the media attention to help his cousin beat cancer." This fan story captured the impact of the Eras Tour.

Film critic Brian Truitt says he won't forget a famous surprise:

"Who could imagine newly minted Oscar winner Robert Downey Jr. coming out and ripping off a Doctor Doom mask at Marvel's Comic-Con presentation? There's nothing like trying to type furiously on a liveblog as 6,000 people go berzerk right next to you!" Somehow he managed to meet his deadline.

Suzette Hackney, national columnist, looked at all sides of the election results:

"It was important post-election to give voice to the millions of Black women who struggled with the outcome. These conversations were happening across the country in social media, friend and activist circles. I took Paste BN readers into those deep and difficult conversations, offering revelatory sentiments about how this presidential election has changed one of America's most loyal voting blocs." Read her conversations here.

Medora Lee, money reporter, found America's loneliness to be a memorable theme:

Lee dove into how high prices are making it hard for Americans to keep up with friendships. One Reddit user Lee interviewed told Lee to "be your own friend." She said the comment highlighted the story's message that inflation has made connections come at an all-time high financial cost for many Americans, and an epidemic of loneliness may be caused by increasingly high price tags. What was the cost of friendship in 2024?

Maureen Groppe, Supreme Court correspondent, got an unforgettable peek inside a justice's office:

"This story gave an exclusive look at Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s chambers. Jackson, the first Black woman and first former public defender on the court, explained the stories behind the artwork and artifacts she chose to illuminate her history and that of the nation." Take a look inside Jackson's office.

Kim Hjelmgaard, Paste BN international correspondent, will always appreciate when he tried pilates in Paris:

"Reporting from Paris for the Olympics with our sports team this past summer was a real treat. I had to do pilates for this story, which was a new and surprising field experience for me." His dispatch from Paris is worth revisiting.

Susan Page, Paste BN Washington bureau chief, defined the year with her look at the evolution of Republicans and Democrats:

"If you cover politics, it's not exactly news that we're a closely divided and increasingly polarized nation. My most memorable story of the year explored some of the most fundamental reasons why: Red states getting redder, blue states getting bluer, and Americans actually physically sorting themselves into communities with people who agree with them. Is it any surprise we've forgotten how to talk to each other?" Even post-election, Page's conversations with voters are resonant.

Zach Wichter, consumer travel reporter, says he'll remember how he took readers to new heights:

"This year I had a chance to visit Utah and see how ski mountains are adapting to climate change. As a lifelong snowboarder, I really wanted to see what the snow sports industry is doing to keep going as snowfall becomes less predictable. I learned how new technology is making the ski season longer than ever." Time to invest in ski gear.

Reflecting with gratitude

Wow. What an incredible collection of stories from our talented journalists this year. This impactful, unique body of work would simply not be possible without the support of readers like you. Paste BN extends its gratitude to you for being part of our subscriber community ‒ we can't wait to bring more memorable journalism to you in 2025.

Happy New Year!

Best wishes for the holiday season,

Nicole Fallert