Last year, in my “Go Figure: Making Numbers Count” numeracy programs, I focused on the 2020 U.S. Presidential campaign. Anchoring the session each time was my “GOlympics” quiz, in which each letter (G-O-L-Y…etc) covers a mathematical principle that intersects with the art of story-telling. One of those queries: “Since Donald Trump became President, the Washington […]
Tag Archives: journalism
Gallons of ink, mostly cyber-based, have already been spilled. More will surely flow. This is in the wake of recent events on the campus of my alma mater, Northwestern University—events set in motion by an on-campus speech last week by former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to a group of Republican students. From what I […]
What? Who? When? Where? Why? How? In simple terms, those questions drive story-telling. Beyond the “what?”–which obviously covers a lot of essential ground–the most vital question to answer is “why?” Tackling the “why” of something that has happened or is happening requires expertise and insight and nuance and, yes, even sticking out your neck with […]
I began inhaling Sports Illustrated cover-to-cover when I was 10 years old, after my dad hooked me up with a subscription for my historic double-digit birthday. It was summer on the South Shore of Boston, my beloved Red Sox were miles ahead in the American League East, and the cover of my inaugural issue featured a […]
“30” is the journalistic symbol for the end of a story. Today, though, it represents the beginning: it was June 27, 1984, 30 years ago today, when the first story I ever wrote for pay (a whopping $15) appeared in a newspaper. My hometown weekly, the Marshfield (Mass.) Mariner, published a feature story that I […]
From the front page of the Feb. 15, 1991 edition of The Courier-News in Elgin, Ill. This past Sunday was the 20th anniversary of my start with The Courier-News of Elgin, Ill. When Mike Bailey hired a 22-year-old guy who had trouble navigating his way to the newsroom all the way from Chicago, it was […]
Do you know what to look for in a publicist? If you type “what to look for in a publicist” into Google, you get little more than vague platitudes like the importance of being a “people person” and “following up on a press release.” Here is one pontification: “A publicist is adept at establishing core […]
Of all the similarities between being a journalist and being a publicist, one of the most prominent ones is the need to keep your eye on the calendar. Mine says that today is Jan. 16th, which means, among other things, that it’s well past time to start thinking about Valentine’s Day-related story ideas, whether you […]