We live in the USA–the United States of Acronymia. What’s your initial reaction to that twist on our country’s name? LOL? See, only two sentences into this post, and I’ve dropped two acronyms on you. Lost yet? (LOL is “laugh out loud,” by the way.) One of the biggest enemies of clarity in communication is […]
One of the most rewarding aspects of my work is helping get the word out about newsworthy, interesting subjects, whether they are a client or not. So it was a thrill this morning to get word from a longtime friend, David Ackerman, about prominent mention that MSNBC.com gave a brilliant 10-minute film that he wrote […]
Last week, I offered this equation: October + Baseball=By the Numbers, as I reprised my research-and-writing role for the Daily Herald. I was hoping for a month filled with Chicago baseball. With both the Cubs and White Sox in the post-season, and the Cubs sporting the best record in the National League during the regular […]
Lately, there has been much discussion and debate on my Medill School of Journalism alumni list-serv about what constitutes “mainstream media.” Of course, the phrase is often used in the context of claims that the aforementioned nebulous institution is biased, out-of-touch and worthy of tongue-lashings from all quarters. On a related note, someone recently got […]
I had a post on Friday regarding my media outreach about a 12-year-old tennis player named Jordan Belga who trains at Five Seasons Sports Club in Northbrook, Ill. On Saturday came this Daily Herald feature, which included an interview with Jordan’s coach, Five Seasons tennis pro Jacek Dabrowski. It doesn’t always work out so nicely. […]
For nearly two years, starting with George Hood’s two 2007 Guinness World Record attempts at marathon spin cycling, I have enjoyed getting the word out about Five Seasons Sports Clubs in Burr Ridge and Northbrook. Yesterday morning came the latest chapter: a phone call from Jacek Dabrowski, a top tennis pro at the Northbrook site. […]
It’s October and Chicago playoff baseball is under way, so that means my statistical hat is fit snugly atop my head. Allowing my numerical passions to run wild again is Daily Herald sports editor Tom Quinlan, who began publishing my “By The Numbers” baseball blurbs on the Cubs and White Sox in today’s newspaper. My […]
When my wife recently embarked on a top-secret mission to solicit letters from relatives, friends and work colleagues for my 40th birthday, she wasn’t sure how to categorize a few people as she assembled the letters. Were they friends or work colleagues? One such individual was Joe Takash, who undoubtedly is a friend first, and […]
Yesterday, I spoke to 55 graduate students at my alma mater, the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. The topic was “Journalism By the Numbers,” so I shared some pointers on numeracy—using numbers with common sense and context in story telling. As part of my presentation, I coordinated with adjunct lecturer Desiree Hanford to […]
Today marks a new era for the Chicago Tribune, with a radically new layout and design. I’m still wading through it, and it’s going to take some time to adjust to it and give this re-invention a full assessment. Clearly, the Internet has wielded a major influence on the design and sensibility of the latest […]