EDUCATOR/TRAINER/REPORTER/EDITOR
A veteran journalism educator, with three decades of experience in the classroom and as a trainer, reporter and editor. Special skills in investigative and computer-assisted reporting, public records and Internet research. Particular interest in coverage of diversity. An international reputation as a trainer, seminar leader and conference speaker. Known for energy, creativity, intellectual curiosity and collaboration skills.
ACADEMIC/TRAINING
Florida International University (2005-Present)
Associate Professor, School of Journalism & Mass Communication
Courses
News Reporting and Writing
News Reporting and Writing teaches the fundamentals of reporting news. Students learn to report and research basic stories – meetings, crime, speeches, news conferences, profiles, obituaries – as the raw material to write stories with precision and detail. They come to understand what makes something news and what facts are required to present it; how to research stories, using electronic and public records; AP style and more.
Advanced News Writing
Advanced News Writing builds on what students learned in News Reporting and Writing. Students here find, report and write stories they find on their own. They pitch those stories, write budget lines and work closely with their professor and one another in the editing process. The best stories may be published in local dailies or weeklies or on the school’s South Florida News Service web site.
Reporting in a Multi-Ethnic Community
It’s easy to cover diverse ethnic, religious and lifestyle communities by sticking to the three Fs and two Cs – food, fun, festivals, crime and corruption. This course finds ways to do it better. Students learn to cut through our own biases and society’s stereotypes. They learn to do stories from the ground up by immersing themselves in a community that’s strange to them and writing the stories they find there. Class discussions focus on ethnic and religious media, the politics of diversity and other related subjects.
Liberty City Link
A partnership between the School of Journalism & Mass Communication and the South Florida Times, a weekly covering South Florida’s black community. Students cover Liberty City, a predominantly black community struggling with poverty, violence and political neglect and media disdain, offering a more nuanced look at the neighborhood.
Computer-Assisted/Public Records Reporting
Students learn how such analytical tools as spreadsheets and database managers can let them turn masses of data into the material for stories that couldn’t otherwise be found. They also learn how to use public records and find stories, buttress tips, follow paper trails and background people.
Senior Multimedia Project
Capstone course for graduating journalism majors, requiring each student to find a compelling story and to tell it in a compelling way, using words, video, photography and interactive graphics.
Service
Chairman, School of Journalism & Mass Communication Faculty Assembly
Member, University Faculty Senate
Member, University Faculty Senate Steering Committee
Member, School of Journalism & Mass Communication Diversity Committee
Member, School of Journalism & Mass Communication Scholarship Committee
Member, School of Journalism & Mass Communication Lecture Committee
Co-Advisor, Society of Professional Journalists FIU student chapter
Advisor, National Association of Black Journalists FIU student chapter
Florida International University (1998-2005)
Adjunct Professor, School of Journalism & Mass Communication
Courses
Reporting in a Multi-Ethnic Community
Database/Public Records Reporting
Investigative Reporters & Editors/National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (1996)
Training Director
Lead trainer at Missouri Journalism School-affiliated organization teaching investigative/computer-assisted reporting and research techniques to journalists. Organized and/or taught one- to six-day seminars in 25 states, Canada and the UK. Developed one of first curricula to teach journalists how to use the Internet as a reporting tool. Continue to work as adjunct trainer.
Columbia University (1994-1997)
Adjunct Professor, Graduate School of Journalism
Courses
Computer-Assisted Reporting
Internet Research
Rutgers University (1983-1992)
Adjunct Professor, Department of Journalism
Courses
Basic News Writing
Advanced News Writing
JOURNALISM
The Daily Business Review, Miami, FL (2000-2005)
Senior editor supervising up to seven reporters, photographers and clerks.
The Miami Herald, Miami, FL (1997-2000)
Computer-assisted reporting specialist, general assignment and education reporter.
The Bergen Record, Hackensack, NJ (1989-95)
Database editor, State House and regional reporter.
The Home News, New Brunswick, NJ (1981-1989)
State House, investigative, general assignment and regional reporter.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. Regular speaker/panelist/teacher at IRE conferences and workshops
Member, Society of Professional Journalists
Member, National Association of Black Journalists
FREELANCE WRITING
Quill, Neiman Watchdog, Columbia Journalism Review, American Journalism Review, New York Times, Miami Herald, New York Post, The Forward, among others.
EDUCATION
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Master’s degree, 1981.
University of California, Los Angeles
Bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, 1976.