The weather certainly doesn’t feel like fall, but the academic year has begun, so it’s fall in my world. I already miss the freedom of the summer (my favorite season) while loving the busyness and possibility of the season ahead. Yes, I love the sun, water, the smell of coconut and suntan oil, but I love fall too. What a vibe! Fall has … [Read more...]
The Best Quotes About Writing Tight
I love a good quote. There’s just something about the ability to summarize a complex thought or issue concisely and creatively. As a journalist, I always loved any articulate source. But it wasn’t only the ability to say something fluently or coherently. It was the ability to say it well — that little creative spunk that gave the … [Read more...]
Making Time for Podcasts
You know that listening to podcasts is beneficial for so many reasons, including helping improve your writing and inspiring content ideas. But how on earth do you fit them in with all of the other things you have to do? Making time for podcasts must be intentional, just like making time for anything else you know you want or need to do, … [Read more...]
My Favorite Book of July
It’s not too often that I only have one favorite book in any month. It’s probably even more rare that my favorite book of July is a book I tried to read previously and dropped. Yet, it’s the situation I find myself in. My Favorite Book of July I read 15 books in July, making it a pretty active reading month. No, I’m still not the lady I … [Read more...]
Why Listen to Podcasts
You’ve probably heard that podcasts are dead. Heck, just about every medium has been “dead” a time or two, according to so-called experts. But the data on podcast listening tell a different story. Almost 465 million people listen to podcasts. That doesn’t seem like any kind of small audience to me, and the number is expected to continue … [Read more...]
15 Ways to Work Your Beat
Newsrooms aren’t the chaos you see on TV and in the movies. In real-life newsrooms, there’s more of a method to who does what, not just a bunch of yelling and paper throwing. The organization is because of the beat system. This approach to assignments helps ensure that everyone in the newsroom has a job to do and nothing gets missed. No matter … [Read more...]
Determining News Value
Think about the last story you read, bumped into on social media, or saw on the news — the last thing it seemed like everyone was talking about. You likely saw it in multiple locations if it was a “big” story. You know this information because someone, somewhere, decided it was news, and others followed suit. It became the news of the day. It had … [Read more...]