I currently teach JMC 301, the cornerstone course for undergraduates at The Cronkite School, which requires students to develop their reporting and news writing skills before they can move on to Cronkite News. I have also taught JMC 201 an introductory course that prepares freshmen for JMC 301 and JMC 302, by teaching them basic reporting and interviewing skills, AP Style, and long-form narrative writing.
My career goes back several decades. I spent 31 years at the Voice of America, joining VOA just out of college where I started as a production assistant and over the years worked as a producer, news anchor, correspondent, and supervisory editor. As a correspondent, I was posted to Miami, Florida for six years, where I covered the Caribbean and Southeast U.S., New Delhi for five years, where I covered South Asia, from Afghanistan to Bangladesh, and Jerusalem for three years, where I covered Israel and the Palestinian territories. I also worked as a supervisory editor in VOA’s Washington newsroom and served as the content editor for www.voanews.com, VOA’s English-language website.
I’ve had a great career as a journalist but teaching undergraduates at Cronkite has been one of the most rewarding and enriching experiences of my life. I recently completed the mid-career MMC program at ASU and I intend to continue teaching, either at Cronkite or elsewhere, helping student-journalists achieve the skills that will allow them to succeed in today’s fast-changing news environment.