People will tell you no. ‘Your job is to not listen to them.’

Sarah Topol spent a year and a half reporting on what life is like for a deserter in the Russian army. Her reporting “The Deserter: An epic story of love and war,” is “a thrilling tale of escape and a disturbing account of the war. It’s also a revealing portrait of how Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine has ricocheted through the private lives of Russia’s citizens, and the desperate choices some of them have made to survive,” the Times Magazine reports.

That work earned Topol, a Times Magazine contributing writer, the Deborah Howell Award for Writing Excellence in the 2025 Poynter Journalism Prizes. Topol spoke with the WriteLane podcast’s Maria Carrillo and Lane DeGregory about the delicate reporting. She also shared some advice for young journalists.

Keep pushing. Journalism is a tough business and it’s not easy to get into, she said.  It takes time to find the right editors.