What a horrific few days it has been. My heart breaks for Charlottesville; the young woman who died while protesting the neo-Nazis, the KKK, and other white supremacists who came to her hometown to protect a hunk of metal that the duly elected city council had voted to remove; and also for the two state […]
I’ve spent some time recently thinking about the role journalism plays in the world these days, and how we got here. As someone who’s been a journalist, on and off, for more than two decades I worry about how journalism has evolved and devolved during that time as we struggle to make sense of new […]
Editor’s Note: Pem McNerney, who wrote this, is a former employee of Patch. A week and a day after the latest layoffs from Patch, the hyperlocal news operation now run by Hale Group and AOL, several of those laid off in the latest round have pivoted quickly and figured out what they want to do. […]
Pete Seeger was a singer, songwriter, and lifelong champion for social change. He also recognized the importance of storytelling in effecting that change. From Jon Pareles’ obituary of Pete Seeger in The New York Times: Through the years, Mr. Seeger remained determinedly optimistic. “The key to the future of the world,” he said in 1994, “is […]
From my friend Susan, posted to her Facebook page, on the anniversary of Virginia Woolf’s birthday: “What is the meaning of life? That was all–a simple question; one that tended to close in on one with years, the great revelation had never come. The great revelation perhaps never did come. Instead, there were little daily […]
How to gather information, assess it, and present it in a way readers will understand and appreciate