In normal times this headline would probably be a bit of a bore. But these are not normal times, and since I’ve been back from our trip people have wanted to know what it’s like to fly and what it’s like in Florida as their coronavirus cases go through the roof. I approached our trip to the Pensacola area with considerable anxiety. Could I really … Continue reading Our Trip to Florida (during Corona)
Very early on the morning on May 5, 2007 I got a call from NBC News to hurry from Denver to Greensburg, Kansas. There had been a huge tornado and the town was devastated. Go! Go! When I pulled into the town six hours later I was stunned to see wreckage so complete that even the bark had been pulled off the trees. These skeleton … Continue reading The Greening of Greensburg
K’NAAN is one of my favorite musicians. He inspired people around the globe with his rousing “Wavin’ Flag” during the World Cup in South Africa and now he has written a powerful op-ed piece for the New York Times about a journey he took home to his native Somalia. It’s an urgent call to action in case we are forgetting the famine already. A Son … Continue reading A Son Returns to the Agony of Somalia By K’NAAN
As a journalist I’m used to working long days. Adrenaline keeps you in the game for 16 to 20 hours during breaking news and disaster coverage. You sleep for three hours then you’re back at it. But nothing prepared me for how exhausted I would be after just a couple of hours of listening to the painful testimonies of young Ugandan men and women who … Continue reading Uganda’s Child Soldiers: In Their Own Words
Even with 500 TV channels at our fingertips my 12 year old son, Blair, and I could not come up with a movie to watch. He manned the remote flipping from title to title while I played God saying “next” and “pass” until we had gone from A to Z. He grew impatient and started lobbying for “Family Guy” instead. I was undeterred. We would … Continue reading The Grapes of Wrath: The Next Generation
I love backstories. I love looking behind the scenes at inspirations and motivations that lead to great creativity. Here’s musician and artist K’Naan’s story in his own words on BBC Radio about what led to his epic song “Waving Flag,” which became a rallying cry for earthquake stricken Haiti, and then a joyous anthem for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2010/08/100811_knaan_nh_sl.shtml?s For more … Continue reading K’Naan: Waving Flag’s Backstory
I finally got to the Gulf coast to work on a story about the oil spill for the PBS Newshour. I didn’t see any oil but what I saw was a a boat load of fear. Correspondent Tom Bearden and I visited Bayou La Batre, Alabama to attend a town hall meeting with Ken Feinberg, the Massachusetts lawyer who must decide how to allocate BP’s … Continue reading Oil Spill: The Ripple Effect
In June 2009 I posted a blog about the dire condition of the River Jordan and how a unique collaboration of Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians are cooperating to save it and care for the needs of a parched region. National Geographic Magazine has done the story “Parting the Waters” for its April edition on Water. It showcases the environmental dilemma, the political issues that have led to it, and … Continue reading River Jordan Redux
In an editorial in the Minneapolis Star Tribune a very clever Lily Coyle took on Pat Robertson of CBN’s 700 Club. You know, the guy who said the earthquake in Haiti happened because former slaves made a pact with the Devil in 1791 in order to overthrow the French. I think she’s got the voice of Satan down, don’t you? For what it’s worth I’ve … Continue reading Satan Responds to Pat Robertson
The Los Angeles Times and the New York Times are doing a great job reporting a backstory in Haiti. Their journalists are telling how broadcast and cable news handled the incredible logistics of deploying their people to Port Au Prince to cover the story. This is not to diminish the role of Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube and cell phones, but to get people like Anderson Cooper of CNN, … Continue reading Haiti Earthquake: Telling the Story
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