May 6th, 2012

Journalism of the Unknown Unknowns

It’s complicated … and that’s the point.

Journalism doesn’t have all the answers, and we shouldn’t expect it to. We shouldn’t expect our stories to solve things for us.

Journalists’ primary role is not to answer the challenges that face our society: it’s to bring light to those challenges, so that those with the proper

Read the rest of Journalism of the Unknown Unknowns

May 2nd, 2012

Don't Take My Word For It

The strong impressions Mel made weren’t limited to personal relations, though. After Mel died in 1942, Stanford University’s journalism department produced a beautiful pamphlet memorializing his life. The booklet led off with reflections on Mel and the impact his reporting had in those early days of World War II. They came from two of the most prominent U.S. military officials of the time, General Douglas MacArthur and Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. See what they had to say after the jump.

Read the rest of Don’t Take My Word For It

April 27th, 2012

Seventy Years Ago

Seventy years ago, Sunday, a plane landed at a secret airfield near Darwin, Australia. Three men disembarked. One was a young second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Another was a general, a former ace pilot who’d shot down five German planes

Read the rest of Seventy Years Ago

March 29th, 2012

Escaping From Bataan

Seventy years ago, yesterday, a small freighter, the Dona Nati, arrived at the Port of Brisbane. Aboard were a handful of Americans, mostly journalists, who’d just spent four often harrowing, often tense months at sea. Most of those months were spent aboard an even smaller vessel. Sailing at night and hiding, they’d dodged Japanese

Read the rest of Escaping From Bataan

March 20th, 2012

Melville's Story on the Radio

I was interviewed by KCLU’s Lance Orozco for a story about Melville Jacoby that aired today for that station’s broadcast of “Morning Edition.” You should now be able to hear that story at the following link:

http://www.kclu.org/2012/03/20/ventura-journalist-writing-book-about-almost-forgotten-war-correspondent/

Thanks for listening. Please share this with anyone who might be interested.

Speaking of radio, don’t

Read the rest of Melville’s Story on the Radio

March 16th, 2012

A Letter From Melville Jacoby's Best Friend

UPDATE:This post was originally written for a Kickstarter campaign that is now over. You can continue to support this project directly through this website. Learn more and donate by clicking here.

I was digging through the collection of materials I have at my place related to Melville Jacoby (most are at my Grandmother’s

Read the rest of A Letter From Melville Jacoby’s Best Friend

March 13th, 2012

The Wreck of the Dominator

UPDATE:This post was originally written for a Kickstarter campaign that is now over. You can continue to support this project directly through this website. Learn more and donate by clicking here.

What does a shipwreck off the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the 1960s have to do with Melville Jacoby’s death across the Pacific

Read the rest of The Wreck of the Dominator

March 9th, 2012

Getting Going

UPDATE:The Kickstarter campaign is now over. You can continue to support this project directly through this website. Learn more and donate by clicking here.

WOW!!!

This is exciting. Two and a half days of fundraising down and I’ve already raised more than $1800 here on Kickstarter. Woohoo. I’m expecting a few hundred more from

Read the rest of Getting Going

May 10th, 2011

Blogathon haiku day: My watched pot of a career

Stories now simmer

Words gathered chopped stirred and mixed

Their flavor seeps out

April 27th, 2011

Plutonium pride on the Mid-Columbia

This update originally appeared April 15 on the blog for the Spot.us story I’m working on about seismic risks at Eastern Washington’s nuclear power facilities. Later updates — including news of a petition by environmental groups to stop the NRC from nuclear plant licensing and other proceedings until it completes a review

Read the rest of Plutonium pride on the Mid-Columbia