Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing things [journalists] usually record. While on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry… the story of civilization is what happened on the banks. — Will Durant, The Story of…
Your emotional health is as important as your physical well-being, and the new normal — working at home — will affect both. While this crisis too shall end, the idea of “work from home” for journalists may be here for some time to come. Beyond the technical challenges, there are some very real emotional challenges…
You’ve heard the saying “Everybody’s got a story.” Well it’s true- it’s just that some stories are better than others. What’s yours? We can probably all agree that when it comes to promoting your organization — nonprofits and small businesses in particular — getting on the news is important. There is no more cost-effective way to reach a lot…
The tragedy of the Florida school shooting uncovered some poor journalistic decision-making and damage to the institution. Journalists jumped on a possible connection between the shooter and a white supremacist hate group based in Florida. But all may not be what it seems and journalists would be wise to avoid jumping to conclusions. The harm…
If I told you the most successful nonprofit marketing medium available is also free, what would you do? You might be willing to invest a little time learning about it, right? Marketing is hard, I know, and it can be expensive. It’s especially difficult for nonprofit organizations rightly focused on good outcomes for their clients,…
As I write this during the “Day without Immigrants” protest, I am reminded of the diversity of thought that exists in every protest, in this case, in our immigrant communities. Here in Texas, certainly across the Southwest and in many other communities, the word “immigrant” is connected indelibly with “Hispanic” or “Latino” (depending on where…
Call it whatever you want — the post-truth era, a post-fact world, a biased fourth estate — journalism is under siege and there is plenty of blame for that to go around. This is not just an American problem either, this is a worldwide problem. “Journalism with a public purpose is being overwhelmed in a…
The horrific shootings in Dallas call for careful and calculated coverage from journalists — again. Journalists must keep in mind that there is clear evidence that coverage of mass shootings has a “contagion effect,” encouraging copy-cat violence (see research from Arizona State University). As polarized as this country has become and as hot as this…
If the explosion of notifications on my feed are any indication, journalists are loving Facebook Live. This “real-time” reporting medium offers outstanding opportunities to connect with new audiences and to prove the hard, 24-hour work journalists do everyday. Yes, Periscope has been around for over a year, but there are some specific advantages to using Facebook…
Syrian migrants photo courtesy New York Daily News If we journalists ever needed to hear diverse opinions and new perspectives, it would be now. Think about the polarity that our society has been subjected to just this last year — racial divides between African-Americans and law enforcement, religious divides between Christian conservatives and Muslims, racial politics over…
