I’m not really sure what to say about the year 2016. “At least we didn’t all die in a nuclear blast” is one good thing I could mention, I guess. On a personal level, it was a year of disappointments and setbacks, fears and frustrations, but also the year in which I sat in aContinue reading “Writing round-up, 2016: Six non-horrible things that happened this year”
Tag Archives: journalism
Good question alert: Can you be a “serious writer” while also just being yourself?
The daughter of a friend is taking a summer journalism course, and one of her assignments was to interview “a journalist with international experience” about their “career choices and future goals.” One of the questions she just sent me was so excellent that I am reprinting it, alongside my answer, below (with permission): Q: YourContinue reading “Good question alert: Can you be a “serious writer” while also just being yourself?”
Why it sucks to be a journalist (and why people do it anyway)
In the West, the news is a commodity, a product. And the customer is always right. If you’re not giving the customer what they want – you’re usually screwed. In places like Russia, the news is more like a government-owned resource. And the government gets to set the agenda on how said resource will beContinue reading “Why it sucks to be a journalist (and why people do it anyway)”
Goodbye to The Moscow News: on riding off into the sunset yet again
“Again the well-worn saddle creaks, And the wind chills an old wound; Monsieur, where in the name of hell have you wound up? Can it be you can’t afford a bit of calm?” After nearly four years, I am leaving The Moscow News. Now that our owner, the RIA Novosti agency, has been liquidated, theContinue reading “Goodbye to The Moscow News: on riding off into the sunset yet again”
They way journalism should always be*
Here we have Spain’s captain, Iker Casillas, kissing his reporter girlfriend. You know, when Spain was stunned by Switzerland, a bunch of fans tried to blame HER for the loss, because she was in South Africa, reporting on the World Cup, and apparently her feminine wiles “distracted” Casillas into letting Spain score, right right right.Continue reading “They way journalism should always be*”
Natalia A. 