In this unreal time of global pandemic, civil unrest, economic depression and a president who views the press (and apparently not Russia) as the enemy, U.S. journalists could certainly use a collective hug. As pointed out in a perceptive, poignant New York Times column Monday, a staggering 7,800 journalists lost their jobs in 2019, according to Business Insider. Once the pandemic hit, another 36,000 media-company employees got the pink slip. And all these disasters came on top of losses that collectively cost American newsrooms half their journalists between 2008 and 2019. After I was laid... Read More

America in late May 2020 turned into a dystopian hellscape of grief, loss, and rage. A relentless global pandemic has killed over 100,000 U.S. citizens just since March; 40 million are on unemployment; a nation has been tense, restless and confused in shutdown, and 75 cities were plunged into chaos and violence this past weekend as thousands protested racial inequality and police brutality – including looting, rioting and death in Davenport late Sunday night. So, it is oddly comforting to find calm, methodical distraction in a new Netflix documentary that recalls a different kind of terror and... Read More