Founder & owner
Real World Media
Real World Media Co-op
(703) 609-8385
Twitter:
SOdigital
DPJournalists
RWMediaCoop
Blogs:
Founding Editor – USA Today
Managing Editor – Gannett New Media Group
Founding Editor – Inter@ctive Week magazine
Editor-in-Chief – United Press International (UPI)
Executive Editor – Globalvision News Network
I am a seasoned writer, editor, mentor, and manager of consumer news and information operations — all skills finely tuned throughout a challenging and rewarding career in newspapers, magazines, Internet operations, a global news network and a major wire service. I have been a pioneer in the online news and information arena. I have consistently tailored content to the needs and demands of my audience. I am a team player with a passion for making things happen.
CAREER CHRONOLOGY
Run a community website and accompanying Facebook page for journalists who have been laid off or otherwise displaced as the industry goes through upheaval. DPJ was designed to provide news, advice, strategy, job leads and emotional support to journalists trying to reinvent themselves and the profession. I partner with Knowledgewebb.net to give them a discount on digital training and maintain close relationships with Knight Digital Media Center and The Poynter Institute.
Founder Real Word Media Co-op, Falls Church, Virginia 2011-present
I am in the early stages of building a news cooperative designed to provide a gathering place for independent journalism entrepreneurs and freelancers and a showcase for their online multimedia portfolios and new venture information. Goal: help members sell their work at truly fair prices.
Owner, Real World Media, Falls Church, Virginia, 2000-present
I am an independent writer, editor and columnist based in Washington, D.C. I write about global media, culture, health and technology. My columns have been published on the Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital site and on HuffingtonPost. I have three blogs, Real World Media, TechNewTopia and OlderSays.
My consulting and freelance operation specializes in high quality content and communications strategies — the key components that position a business or organization on the cutting edge in its marketplace and on track to accomplishing its mission and maximizing its brand. Clients have included LitSeek, Booz Allen Hamilton, strategy+business magazine, The Magazine Group (where I led the redesign and re-launch of EdTech magazine), The Motley Fool, The Highlands Forum, RAND Corporation, Greenstar Corporation, Synthesis Partners LLC, Breastcancer.org, integrative medicine start-up BrainyBrawn, USA101.com, USAShoppingNews.com, USEducators.com, INN World Report, and Partnership Central.
Specialist and Personal Trainer, Tysons Corner Apple Store, McLean, Virginia, 2007-2009
I ventured into the retail world and successfully applied customer service skills I developed in community journalism to Apple’s consumer and business clientele at Apple’s first-ever retail store. I was consistently top performer in sales and was a popular member of the One-to-One training program. I served on three other teams: Business, Staff Mentoring and Personal Shopping.
Executive Editor, Globalvision News Network, New York, NY 2001-2002
Chief content director for new venture designed to form partnerships with indigenous content providers around the world. Worked with marketing and sales executives to form a network of 200-plus media partners to supplement Western media coverage of significant social, economic, political, health, financial and environmental events and trends on a global scale. Designed and directed outsourcing of website design. Launched a real-time website featuring showcasing staff and partners’ coverage and commentary in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
Branding & Marketing Consultant, Brand One, New York, NY, 2000-2001
Joined a team of 12 executives from major industries to brainstorm and create blueprints for an innovative consulting firm. Its mission: tailor or restructure a client’s operations to serve the organization’s heart and soul – its brand.
Chief Content Officer, BrainyBrawn Integrative Medicine, Union, NJ, 2000
Worked with a group of investors, executives and start-up staff to develop and execute strategy for a Web-based operation targeting consumers interested in integrative medicine and, separately, doctors entering that professional arena.
Editor-in-Chief, United Press International, Washington, DC, 1997-2000
Chief content executive for UPI’s worldwide operations. Architect of plans to reshape the century-old news wire organization’s core product into new market-driven, Web-based revenue streams. Raised standards and motivated staff to produce quality content. Reorganized newsgathering operation and customer service response system. Positioned the company to become a formidable player in the digital environment.
New Media Director, Copley Los Angeles Newspapers, Torrance, California, 1997
Built newspaper website and online operation for three Copley properties in the highly competitive LA market. The site, SignOnLA, was designed as a sister site to SignOnSanDiego.
Managing Editor/New Ventures, Nando.net, Raleigh, North Carolina, 1996
Conceived and produced an online entertainment magazine — and drafted plans for a range of interactive information products.
Founding Editor, Inter@ctive Week, Garden City, NY, 1994-1995
Creative strategist, co-designer, editor and production manager of the first business newsmagazine to cover the emerging interactive marketplace as the Web was born. The award winning weekly and its website served Ziff Davis well as a leading single-source provider of news, information and analysis for players across the broad spectrum of the information technology industry.
Managing Editor, Gannett New Media Group, Gannett Co. Inc., Arlington, Virginia, 1992-1994
First director of editorial operations for Gannett's new media division. Drew upon company-wide resources to create its first multimedia product, a current events CD-ROM. Laid groundwork for the USA Today website.
Founding editor, USA Today, Gannett Co. Inc., Arlington, Virginia, 1982-1992
Ground-floor strategist in the development of the nation’s first consumer-focused and strongly branded national daily newspaper. Participated in crafting an innovative writing style and a user-friendly format that transformed the “look and feel” of most other newspapers and foreshadowed the concise and structured Internet sites we now accept as the norm. Trained dozens (and dozens) of editors and reporters, including new hires and journalists on loan from other Gannett newspapers, in USA Today’s unique style of writing and presenting news and information.
POSITIONS HELD DURING 10 YEARS AT USA TODAY:
Photo & Graphics Coordinator/LIFE section, 1991-1992
Page 1 Editor, LIFE section, 1989-1991
Health & Behavior Editor, LIFE section, 1987- 1989
Assistant National Editor, NEWS section, 1985-1987
Newsmakers Editor, NEWS section, 1984-1985
Rewrite Desk, Editor and Reporter, NEWS section, 1983-1984
Editor and Director of New England launch, NEWS section, 1983
•tates Desk Editor, NEWS, 1982-1983
EDUCATION
M.A. in Journalism, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
B.A. cum laude in Anthropology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
First two years of college: Sociology major, University of Wisconsin-Madison
PROFESSIONAL OUTREACH
I have spoken on the topic of new media challenges at Columbia University and the New York Press Club. I have been a member of the New Media Committee of the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) and have written for its website. I co-authored a monograph for Rand Corporation, The Information Revolution in the Middle East and North Africa.
