What’s my sentence? That’s the question I asked my social media students to ponder for their assignment this week. I wanted to join in because I think it’s an important exercise to distill what you want and who you are. I am lucky enough to work at a job I love with people I enjoy […]
I love that there are so many different ways to tell the story of what’s happening in the world. It can be overwhelming, but it’s good. I discovered one of the most interesting, thanks to an NPR story, headlined: Picture this. That story introduced me to illustrator Maria Fabrizio, who is behind the project Wordless News. , touted […]
I love reading. I always have. From when I was little and went to the library with my siblings and my mom, I have devoured books. But lately, I’ve been more distracted by social media, by the Internet and by television. I aim to change that with a reading challenge for 2014: eight books each […]
I am a Twitter advocate, someone who loves the ability to converse, communicate, get information, links, jokes and, yes, snark. It’s my early warning radar for news and for pop culture. I understand its limitations and drawbacks. I don’t mind the fire hose, but I probably do spend too much time on it. (New Year’s […]
Don’t stop. Those words might make you think of a Fleetwood Mac song that is now going through my head. But they also are an important part of a great book I’ve been reading called “Eat That Frog” by Brian Tracy. It’s a series of steps to avoid procrastination and get things done. I read […]
A new Pew study about Twitter use wasn’t surprising to me, an avid Twitter user. Certainly my experience as a college journalism professor bears out the findings that Twitter users are young, mobile and educated. The research showed 8 percent of people on Twitter get their news there. What did surprise me was the statistic […]
It seems to be a simple question. But asking/debating whether journalists should learn to code and whether universities should teach their journalism students to code has taken on a life of its own. The latest conflagration started with an Atlantic article by Olga Khazan. She makes interesting points, but I don’t agree. I think an […]
Colleague and friend Mark Smedinghoff reminds me that people and communication are what’s important about technology — not the latest gadget or app or update. The reminder comes in his moving, heartfelt essay to the memory of his dear sister Anne, killed in a suicide blast in Afghanistan. Anne was working on a literacy project […]
Social media is full of snark and worse. It can be a waste of time. But there are moments when the connection and communication makes it all worth it. Sports Illustrated writer Richard Deitsch tapped into those moments of connection and sharing by asking a simple question: How many of you have a photograph of […]
It’s time for some questions and answers. As part of the July Bloggers Challenge, started by Jen Schneider of Liv, Laugh, Love blog, it’s time to write some answers. I’m much more comfortable asking questions, but I turned to Twitter to see if I could dig up some questions. Some wonderful former and current students obliged. […]