Never wanted to be President, but Helen Thomas showed me I could grill one

As a journalism student in 1975, I snuck into the White House press corps which was camped out in the basement of the East-West Center in Hawaii to watch Ms. Helen Thomas, UPI cover President Ford. 

• Visit Didn't Help Ford Win Hawaii, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
• Daily Diary of President Gerald R. Ford, Dec. 7, 1975 (the 34th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor)

As reporters talked and laughed, waiting for Ford to mispronounce the word "hegemony," Helen Thomas smiled and typed away. She was my rock star.   

Eleven years later, I was working for that very same UPI, covering the deposed dictator President Ferdinand Marcos as he landed in Hawaii, exiled from the Philippines.

I hate the disgrace that came to Helen Thomas at the end of her career. I prefer to remember the very smart, very visible role model she was for women journalists.  

I never wanted to be the President.  Helen Thomas certainly showed me that I could grill one if that's what I wanted to do.  

Helen Thomas died today. She will always be remembered. 
 Thomas, Pioneering White House Correspondent, Dies at 92

The future of journalism

Business and Future of Journalism 2012, originally uploaded by RobinJP.

These college students are really engaged - that's the Perfect Moment.

This is my class at the Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. They look like they are taking a test, but they aren't. They are giving me and my teaching partner, John Dille, feedback on the semester.

On the whole, their class critiques are very useful as we continue to develop the class for Spring 2013.

Oh, and the class? The Business and Future of Journalism. A 400-level class about journalism as an industry and the impact of the Internet on the business of news.

Some of these students may look a little stumped, but who blames them.

Robin, Phoenix

Reading the news: The Denver Post app

Reading the news: The Denver Post app, originally uploaded by RobinJP.

Mom discovers she can read her hometown news while visiting Arizona for Thanksgiving.

How was it?

'Well, not bad!' ... once she mastered how to return to the homepage for more news. It wasn't quite the same as her Nook.

Happiness is a warm iPad.

Robin, Tempe

What's National Coming Out Day mean to someone who was never really In?

I've been Out so long.

I  have such a super strong network of friends, colleagues, fellow journalists, gay and straight alike.

And I have always had support and love from family.  My partner (my wife in Massachusetts) and I are very lucky, we know that.  But sometimes I forget that there are many lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered people who do not feel as safe and loved and supported as I feel.

National Coming Out Day is for them.  And maybe not in the way you'd think.

I share these words from Joshua Owen who posted them on his Tumblr: Joshua Owen.  He said it best.

NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY

On this day we need to remember that the meaning of National Coming Out Day (NCOD) is not about ‘outing’ someone or pressuring any one to disclose a deeper part of themselves to the world.

Today is a day to stand together as a unified force; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and our allies to reflect upon how far we have come and how far we need to continue.  So that those still not ready to disclose themselves see the world as a safe place to one day make that decision and stand with us. 

I am out and proud and here to listen if any of you ever need a safe place to share.

Robin, Tempe

The inspiring shelf life of flying cars

I talked with a class of high school students this week at Cronkite School of Journalism. These were smart kids who chose to spend a few weeks in school this summer getting a taste of college life.

My talk was on the Future of Journalism.   We started in the Cronkite museum to get a taste of the past - historic newspapers, early hand-held TV cameras and a a 1984 Macintosh computer that amused them. "Look, they used the rainbow Apple logo!" one exclaimed.


I then told them that when I was a kid and we thought about what the future would bring, we thought it would include flying cars.

"Yeah," my friends and I thought, "It'll be 2005 and we'll definitely have flying cars."

I then showed the students this cool video of Google's self-driving car project from 2010 which was designed to make driving safer, more enjoyable, and more efficient. The video shows a blind man named Steve who took the hands-free car for a spin... ending up at Taco Bell for lunch.

I talked with the students about innovation with a purpose, new ideas that help make people's lives better.



And I then asked them:

"When you were kids, what did you think you'd see in the future?  What did you dream about that you just knew will be here when you're older?"

They looked at me.  Thinking.

And then one young man shot up his hand.

"Flying cars."  


Robin, Tempe  

Read all about it

It's been 2 1/2 years since I worked in a newsroom.

After nearly 25 years as a reporter, editor, web journalist, I moved to education.

This week, I got to go back and visit my old newsroom for a while. It was fun.

We had lunch and talked about newsroom diversity (particularly, is it ever OK to 'out' someone as gay and if so, when? ).

Those of us who are out of newsrooms now all talk about how no other workplace is quite as exhilarating.

We're full of nostalgia. And that's OK.

Robin, Tempe
Read all about it, originally uploaded by RobinJP.

Writer's block

Writer's block, originally uploaded by RobinJP.

Now that's old media.

This rusty old typewriter was found hanging in a nautical junk shop near Anna Maria Island, outside of Tampa, Florida.

I usually have fond feelings for old typewriters, but this one does nothing for me.

Robin, Tempe to Tampa

Storytellers for Good: I'll buy that

Storytellers for Good: Mama Hope from Storytellers For Good on Vimeo.

Good news. That's what people say they want. Cara Jones created Storytellers for Good in 2009 so she could produce videos to highlight positive developments in the Bay Area community in direct contrast to the negative stories we see all the time on the 6 o'clock news.

After years as a TV reporter, with experience in Florda, Boston and San Francisco, she wanted to use her skills to tell personal stories that move and inspire.

She put together a team of passionate journalists and photographers who use their skills to inspire optimism and change. They We travel the world to tell and promote stories about people and organizations making a positive difference in the world.

Storytellers for Good has 12 videos on its Vimeo profile page and on its cool website: Storytellers for Good. Start with 'Mama Hope' above.

I came across these great stories after Cara turned to Spot.Us, a nonprofit project to pioneer “community powered reporting” for funding .. but that's another story. And many more Perfect Moments. Oh, and, yes I helped fund Storytellers for Good on Spot.Us.

Robin, Tempe