Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps is congratulated by his mother, Debbie, after a competition in Shanghai, China, last July STORY HIGHLIGHTS Michele Weldon says on Mother's Day, single motherhood should be celebrated She says popular culture consigns kids of single moms to failure, but there's more to story She says kids of single moms have challenges, but studies show many do very well Weldon says she's a single mom of three flourishing young men, productive and happy Editor's note: Michele Weldon is an author and an assistant professor of journalism at the Medill School, Northwestern University. She is a seminar leader with The OpEd Project. She recently completed a memoir about raising her sons alone, their high school wrestling careers, and her recovery from cancer. (CNN) ... Continue reading →
If I had to pick one skill for the majority of leaders I work with to improve, it would be assertiveness. Not because being assertive is such a wonderful trait in and of itself. Rather, because of its power to magnify so many other leadership strengths. Assertiveness gets a bad rap when people equate it with being pushy and annoying. But that shouldn't stop you from learning to apply it productively (that is — in service to your strengths). More harm is done when people aren't assertive enough than by being too assertive. At least you know what pushy people think, but those who don't assert themselves can be keeping vital ideas hidden and useless when they don't speak up or speak too softly. So ... Continue reading →
Bryan Derballa for The Wall Street Journal On a typical day last week, Anne Marie Bowler read the morning newspaper in her apartment in New York's West Village. Anne Marie Bowler left work one day last week to enjoy dinner with a friend at a sidewalk café "before the sun went down," she says. Recently she ducked out of the office to attend a charity golf outing. And Ms. Bowler also likes to make time for long evening bike rides through Central Park. She could never have done these things at her old job. Ms. Bowler worked 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. or later at a big law firm in New York City for years. The daunting workload often forced her to cancel plans with ... Continue reading →
6Comments #9 Ranking Writing is a Revolutionary Tool vote for this idea now Decribe your idea From Anne Frank to Elizabeth Gilbert, and Frank McCourt to Dave Pelzer, the written truth of one person’s story has historically had the power to influence attitudes, minds, lives, behaviors, policies and society. Why then would anyone hesitate to harness this simple revolutionary tool and explore the monumental power of redemptive writing? A better question is are you brave enough to be authentic in your written expression and dare to use it to change the world? The idea that writing is sacred and that the sharing of written stories is the key to human connection is an ancient notion that needs to be revitalized, revered. Why do you want ... Continue reading →
Category: Politics, Media Sexualization Is Silencing: WMC Statement and Petition on Hustler Attack on Conservative Pundit Cupp By Michelle Kinsey Bruns | May 24, 2012 Women's Media Center has issued a statement and launched a Change.org petition against Hustler magazine's offensive and objectifying fake photo of conservative S.E. Cupp in a graphic sexual act. Hustler's position seems to be that because Cupp is for the defunding of Planned Parenthood, she's fair game for any offensive attack they can dream up. According to Julie Burton, Women's Media Center President: "It makes no difference that Larry Flynt thinks he is opposing the defunding of Planned Parenthood. His crude, sexist attacks on Ms. Cupp demean all women – and undermine his claim to support women’s rights. As a ... Continue reading →
Why Do We Care More About Diversity on TV Than In Our Schools?Protest got a black character added to "Girls." So why are we so silent on segregation in the classroom? HBOThe cast from Lena Durham's "Girls" on HBORooks' book is White Money Black Power: African American Studies and the Crisis of Race in Higher EducationAs soon as it premiered last month, HBO’s new series, Girls, was roundly criticized for the lack of racial diversity in the cast. Filmed in Brooklyn, the show chronicles the lives of four white female friends who have recently graduated from college. TV critics immediately questioned how it was possible for the stars to only have white friends and chastised Hollywood for perpetuating the fiction of such extreme levels of ... Continue reading →
by Andrew Beaujon Published May 23, 2012 10:10 am Steve Jeffrey, the owner of the Anchor Weekly in Chestermere, Alberta, has apologized for multiple acts of plagiarism and settled with a writer whose work he pilfered. Sheila Moss, a humor writer in Nashville, says in an email that she and Jeffrey “negotiated a financial settlement with the encouragement of the Alberta Press Council, with whom I had filed a complaint. I feel that the amount was fair and I’m satisfied with the resolution.” Jeffrey wrote a column at the beginning of May in which he apologized to 14 writers, including Moss, from whom he stole. “Many of the words I used in the Lighthouse column over the past year were not mine,” he wrote. A ... Continue reading →
by Mallary Jean Tenore Published May 23, 2012 7:19 am Updated May 23, 2012 7:22 am When I first wrote about Twitter in September 2007, I got emails from journalists who said I was highlighting a tool that would never have journalistic application. A lot has changed since then. There’s now a greater willingness to embrace Twitter and other social media tools — or to at least see their potential. As more tools emerge, we need to be open to teaching others how to use them and how to integrate them into our workflow. I’ve put together some tips for teaching social media based on teaching I’ve done here at Poynter. While the tips are mostly geared toward journalism educators, journalists who are coaching their ... Continue reading →
