Welcome to Conversations With Journalists! In this new series, we invite students every two weeks to join a discussion about a New York Times article with a Times journalist and other teenagers from around the world. Learn more about the feature and find a schedule of the pieces we’ll be reading together in the future here.
Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us so let’s talk about love!
Did you know The New York Times has an entire section dedicated to weddings? Indeed, wedding announcements at The Times are as old as the paper itself: the debut issue on Sept. 18, 1851, also debuted “Weddings” — at the time a single line proclaiming the union of Sarah Mullett and John Grant.
Both were from prominent families, and for more than 100 years, the section stuck to that rule, mostly featuring privileged society figures. But today, the weddings you see in The Times include people from all walks of life, and their love stories are as unique and diverse as the couples themselves.
In this edition of Conversations With Journalists, we invite you to learn more about what’s now known as Vows and Mini-Vows, two columns that report on various couples and their paths to love, with the writer Rosalie R. Radomsky.
Why do you think people enjoy love stories so much? Why would a newspaper report on them? What can stories about romance and marriage show us about the world we live in?
Join the discussion to find out.
Featured Articles
Choose one of the following Mini-Vows articles:
— On Their First Date, Her Younger Brother Played Chaperone
— A Labor of Love Side by Side
— The Joke (Surprise, Surprise) Was on Them
— Under Construction: A Remodeled House and Requited Love
We’ll be joined by Ms. Radomsky, who has been a Vows reporter for over a decade. Ms. Radomsky started at The Times over 40 years ago, and has worked in nearly every section of the paper as a news assistant, and has written stories for many of them. Most recently she has been a part of Style, covering galas and writing articles like this one, about knitting with dog hair.
But if you want to learn even more about what it’s like to be a weddings reporter before you talk to Ms. Radomsky, check out this Times Insider piece or this video, both from 2017, from former Vows writers. And you can look back at 165 years of Times wedding announcements with the special feature “Committed,” also from 2017.
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.
Are you a teacher or student who has feedback on this new feature or would like to suggest a Times piece for future discussion? Please post a comment here.
