I profiled the feisty and strong-willed adult film star Stoya  for Technically Philly. It could be her, standing in the low light of a trendy South Philadelphia coffee shop. There are maybe 10 people — drinking tea and working on laptops — most of whom are cute, pale-faced women with dark hair and a look. [...]

The way we have gained information has apparently changed in the past 200 years, according to a really interesting and insightful graphical analysis of those trends by online magazine Baekdal.com. The graphic analysis, as depicted above, aims to give some sense of the how the sources of information developed in common society. It suggests that [...]

I’ve come to believe there’s a very real difference between a blogger and a blog. The person updating a blog isn’t necessarily a blogger. Though I blog on and maintain this professional site and have certainly blogged elsewhere, I don’t consider myself a blogger. For one, I’m a professional writer, so I’d need to be [...]

It’s Memorial Day, so no one’s reading this anyway, right? In February I announced that I was blogging for uwishunu.com, a popular, award-winning arts and entertainment blog for Philadelphia. Some months I write more for them than others, not all run as expected and some are of only middling interest to casual readers, so I’ve [...]

I received some degree of criticism recently on a post about journalism classes I wish were more readily available in college J-schools. I openly admit some forms of them already are and that many colleges have wonderful professors looking forward and doing great work with them. Still, I stand by the conversation being an important [...]

Why an influx of dogs are often a sign of a neighborhood in change is the focus of my story for the Style & Soul section of today’s Inquirer. Dogs may not have caused Northern Liberties to change from blighted to trendy, but they sure were a sign that change was coming. Twenty years ago, [...]

All you need to make a journalist is pressure and time. Those same elements can disrupt a writer. Under pressure and no longer feeling the same need to impress someone can make even the most capable of scribes turn a phrase that shouldn’t be turned anymore. Hell, I may be one cliche away from a [...]

One year ago I was cleaning out my desk in Room 243, the newsroom of The Temple News, the college newspaper of Temple University since September 1921. I spent one year as a reporter, one year as a columnist, one year as a contributor and one year as an editor. It is, truly, where I [...]

Last night was the city controller debate held by Northeast Philadelphia community news startup NEastPhilly.com and NPR affiliate WHYY. I fully intend on updating this post with lessons learned, but for now, I’d like to just share some of the coverage. Full Mp3 of City Controller Debate Video of NEastPhilly/WHYY City Controller Debate WHYY video [...]

Here’s introducing one of the first regionally-focused community news portal in Philadelphia: NEastPhilly.com, home to anything and everything that happens in Northeast Philadelphia. In a true testament to its rapid growth in its first few months of existence, tonight it is partnering with WHYY, Philadelphia’s NPR affiliate, to host the third and final primary debate [...]