I’m not the best headline writer. Mine always seem a bit trite and cute but I know a good one when I see one and today’s headline on the final edition of the Rocky Mountain News tugged at my heart. It said simply “Goodbye, Colorado.” Nothing fancy. Just poignant as hell. Today was the swan song for the 149 year old newspaper and I must … Continue reading Rocky Mountain News Blues
President Obama came to Denver today to sign the economic stimulus bill. He chose the Mile High City because it is on the cutting edge of green technologies he believes will take America into the future. I attended because I am producing a story on the impact of the economy on public hospitals. Stimulus dollars are going to provide relief for health care too. The story is … Continue reading Twitter to the Chief
Darlene and Jacob. Teddy. Craig and Margie. All are the new faces of poverty. Six months ago each had jobs, homes and middle class incomes to support themselves and their families. Now two families are homeless and the other teeters on the brink. Their falls have been fast and hard. Darlene has a college degree and worked in the mortgage industry until October. Her husband … Continue reading New Face of Homelessness aka Economy Sucks Journal #2 2.7.09
I’m so glad we decided not to take that cruise over the holidays. I came back from Beijing feeling a bit flush after 90 straight days of producing at the Olympics. A Caribbean vacation sounded like a great way to spend winter break but my teenage son didn’t want to do anything that didn’t include his friends so we decided to celebrate at home. As I … Continue reading Economy Sucks Journal #1 12.17.08
My husband and I had a newspaper war. Our subscriptions to the local papers lapsed and I didn’t renew them. It was sort of an experiment to see if we would really miss not having the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News delivered to our home. Everything is available to us on line and I scan half a dozen news websites a day. Often by the … Continue reading Newspaper War
I first learned the layoffs had begun on Wednesday morning when I woke up. A friend posted a desperate cry that she was trying to stay sane after half of NBC’s network bureau was let go in Dallas. It was deja vu for me. I was downsized 10 years ago and I watched Facebook all day as people started changing their status and talking about getting their resumes together. One colleague is … Continue reading The New Face(book) of News
There was hardly a dry eye in America. When Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States last night tears flowed in abundance. They flowed for those who didn’t live to see the day and for those who never thought it would come. They flowed from relief and pride and possibility. Men and women, Black and White, young and old acknowledged how transformative … Continue reading Tears and Fears
I watched the final Presidential debate last night and the discussion about Joe the Plumber. Joe is a plumber from Toledo, Ohio who challenged Barack Obama because his taxes would go up if he bought his bosses business. Since the business makes over $250,000 a year his taxes would rise from 36% to 39% under Obama’s plan. On the surface it seems like a blow to small business … Continue reading Joe the Plumber
These are uncertain times. The economy is a wreck. Need is escalating throughout the world as prices rise for food and oil. Natural disasters in China and Myanmar are overwhelming and tragic. Huge NGOs like Worldvision http://www.worldvision.org and Care http://www.care.org are pleading for donations as they rush in to help. The work to do is so enormous. Can we possibly make a difference when the … Continue reading A Hunger to Help
Vicky Collins Online 