Now That’s A First ….

*Since some of my readers had a hard time accessing my first storytelling piece. Here it is in its entirety.

Everyone remembers where they were that day. You know the day. THAT day. People were at work, getting ready for work, getting the kids ready for school. All in our usual morning routines on that particular September 11th.

At the time, I was a journalist for The Associated Press and hours after the towers fell, I was one of the four … Read more ...

You’ll Never Believe Who’s on the List of Finalists…

You know how actors say it’s an honor to simply be nominated? And you know how you don’t believe them? Well now I find myself saying it but also really meaning it.

No, no, no. I haven’t been nominated for an Oscar. (Besides awards season is over, remember?) I found out this weekend that She’sWrite is a finalist for a Peter Lisagor Award. The Lisagors are handed out by the Chicago Headline Club, the largest local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. … Read more ...

Social Media and the Future of Journalism

And to think I almost stayed home.

It was Social Media Week in Chicago, the local slice of a global conference on all things social media. I had done the mental gymnastics to figure out which sessions I could attend considering my two anklebiters and Hubby’s long work days.

There were sessions I really wanted to go to such as Journalism in the Age of Tweet, How to Engage Audiences and Have Fun Doing It, and The Power of Social Media for Read more ...

Lesbian Couple Saves Dozens in Norway Massacre

Hege Dalen and her wife Toril Hansen were having a quiet meal near the shores of Norway’s Lake Tyrifjorden. Then came the gunfire. And the “awful screaming.”

Across the lake was Utoyan Island, where Anders Breivik was slaughtering young campers. Authorities said Breivik gunned down more than 100 people attending the Labour party camp.

“We were eating,” Dalen told the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sannomat. “Then shooting and then the awful screaming. We saw how the young people ran in panic into the lake.”

The … Read more ...