I help journalists — and the organizations that support their work — thrive in a changing digital landscape. My posts here are now few and far between, but I used to muse on journalism, the internet and digital culture on this site.

Interests

Besides the topics above, here are some things I’m interested in and have occasionally written about:

• Business models for journalism in the digital age
• Digital product management in the news industry
• Digital storytelling and data visualization
• Social effects of information technology, globalization and urbanization
• Languages, especially German, French, Spanish and Dutch (of which I speak German and feebly attempt to speak the other three)
• New Orleans, my hometown and one of my favorite places in the world

Affiliations

Opinions expressed here are my own and not those of any of the organizations and institutions I’m connected with. In the interest of transparency, here’s the list of my current and recent affiliations:

• Employer: Until April 2023, I was product director for content capabilities at Gannett, publisher of more than 300 local news properties and USA TODAY. Before that, I was an independent consultant, and before that, I was the managing editor for digital operations at Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News. I have also worked for The Seattle Times the Los Angeles Times and several other American newspapers. Details on my LinkedIn profile.
• Consulting: Clients have included LaterPay, the American Press Institute, the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, the Los Angeles Times and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
• Teaching: I have coached in four Table Stakes organizational transformation programs (run by the American Press Institute, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Gannett/McClatchy). I have been a visiting professor at the University of British Columbia‘s Graduate School of Journalism and an adjunct instructor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. I have taught a course and several webinars for the Poynter Institute‘s NewsU on topics in digital journalism including SEO and writing for the web.
• Memberships: As a member of the founding steeering committee of the News Product Alliance, I helped launch a new professional organization dedicated to the advancement of product thinking in the news industry. I am a member of the Online News Association, for which I have helped organize events in Philadelphia, Seattle, Los Angeles and Italy. I have served on the editorial board of the European Journalism Centre‘s Data Driven Journalism initiative, and as a member of the advisory board for the Integrated Student Media Center at Temple University‘s Klein College of Media and Communication.

Speaking

I’ve had the privilege of speaking about topics I’m passionate about at gatherings on three continents over the years. Here’s a partial list:

• Past:
  • News Leaders Association [virtual] (2021): Product thinking 101
  • World Forum Disrupt [virtual] (2020): Making our journalism work harder for our audiences
  • WordCamp for Publishers, Chicago (2018): Reader revenue and the less open web
  • Digital Media Europe, Copenhagen (2018): Digital transformation in local news
  • AmericaEast Media Business and Technology Conference, Hershey, Pa. (2017): Panel on product management in news organizations
  • APME-ASNE News Leadership conference, Philadelphia (2016): Keynote interview with Apple’s Eddy Cue
  • Pennsylvania Press Conference, Harrisburg, Pa. (2016): Moderated a panel entitled “News Nerdery for Audience Engagement“
  • BarCamp NewsInnovation, Philadelphia (2015): Spoke about Philly.com’s upcoming redesign project
  • AAJA N3con, Hong Kong (2013): Panel on data journalism
  • Digital Editors Network [virtual] (2013): Panel on responsive web design
  • Edward R. Murrow symposium, Washington State University, Pullman, Wash. (2011): Spoke about change in legacy news organizations
  • Data Journalism Meetup, Berlin (2010): Show-and-tell of L.A. Times Data Desk projects
  • Data Driven Journalism, Amsterdam (2010): Storytelling with Data
  • University of British Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Vancouver (2010): Led a public seminar on new tools and techniques for journalists
  • BarCamp NewsInnovation, Philadelphia: Discussion on information overload (2009)
  • International Journalism Festival, Perugia, Italy (2009): Panel discussion with European editors on networked journalism and the fate of traditional news media + ONA Italy meetup talk on alternative story forms
  • Digital Editors Network, Preston, U.K. (2009): “Building the Data Desk at the L.A. Times”
  • ACM Siggraph, Los Angeles: Panel discussion on computational journalism (2008)
  • BarCamp Los Angeles: “How to teach old media new tricks” (2007)