Journalism

As a writer, I specialize in delivering clean, accurate copy on tight deadlines using interviews, research, and analysis. It’s not only fundamental to good journalism; it’s made me a stronger communicator.

Since leaving the Times I’ve contributed essays about our ongoing environmental crisis with Red Canary Magazine. In 2020, I looked at Portland’s struggle with a pandemic, brushfires, and social unrest. In 2021, I wrote about living with the city’s ‘heat dome’ after moving out of L.A. that included some sadly prescient thoughts about Altadena and the futility of trying to escape the climate emergency.

I wrote a lot of profiles of people and scenes, and I specialize in the kind of preparation that allows me to make people feel comfortable and heard while building a rapport lets the experience develop as more of a conversation than a formal inquiry. (Something that also served me well on the marketing side.)

During my tenure at the L.A. Times, I talked with people like Trevor Noah, Kamasi Washington, Sharon Van Etten and The National as well offering my own spin on happenings from Comic-Con, various TV productions, and a comedy club helping kids. I also wrote a weekly column for about a dozen years called Overrated/Underrated, a look at pop culture that was syndicated around the country. People enjoyed it and/or enjoyed complaining to me about my opinions. My exploits in digital journalism also included editing and managing teams, which you can read about here.

Down below are some examples, in addition to a few more rounded up where I worked.