Pros & Cons of Hiring an Independent Freelance Writer
Freelancer writer and freelance writing jobs are a dime a dozen. Should you use an independent freelance hire instead of established freelance platforms?…
Freelancer writer and freelance writing jobs are a dime a dozen. Should you use an independent freelance hire instead of established freelance platforms?…
The advent of Chat GPT, Bard, and a litany of other AI writing tools has brought the world into an exciting yet uncomfortable…
One year ago, I made the biggest decisions of my life. I left local news. It wasn’t a long nagging feeling I debated…
“I always had two faces,” she tells me as we banter about her new side hustle. Elizabeth Schrack, or Elizabeth Watts, as I…
I’ll admit, I’ve never been one to chase a lottery jackpot. Sure, I’m not above buying a ticket if the jackpot was high…
I’ve got a thick skin and I’ve learned to stop saying “I’ve seen it all” because I’ve seen too much in my years…
The tradition of passing a card around the office is as timeless as the watercooler itself. It might be a birthday card, new…
Let’s add another thing to do in the jungle of job searching. On top of the resume perfection, eternal “Do I need a…
Hiring managers, bosses, bean counters – listen up. When your potential new employee looks up “Apartments near me” on Google, or when your…
I’m quite the fan of the scams that make it into my spam folder. I could be richer than Elon Musk if I…
If you ever doubted the fear a pet food recall puts into human owners, as I write this the Freshpet food recall website…
Local news is losing workers faster than you can say “Breaking News Right Now.” I won’t call people like me former journalists because…
For a budding on-air journalist, the reel is what matters most, if not a LOT when it comes to looking for a job.…
Easter isn’t just a holiDAY, it’s a series of days leading up to Easter Sunday. Growing up Lutheran, Palm Sunday started a week…
I want to binge the new season of Bridgerton as much as the next person this weekend, but there’s a “diamond” of the…
It amazing how PR and media coverage go hand in hand, yet they speak completely different languages. However, the local news language must…
I’ve now written hundreds of travel articles for various cities around this great country. As part of my research, I watch YouTube channels…
Americans are in love with Ukraine’s President right now as he fights with his people, exuding leadership among his masses and not above…
It’s okay if you don’t get it. If it feels overwhelming. It feels a world away. If you’re young or disconnected from international…
I don’t play Wordle, and I have no intention to, which is probably why it was so annoying that everyone started cluttering up…
“Call me.” The two words that say so much more when someone reaches out to you for a reference check. “Call me” means…
I’m no doctor, but I knew something was very wrong. The more doctors I saw, the more I knew something was very wrong…
It takes an amazing person to have a vision for something that cannot be seen. The idea could educate and innovate the way the world…
My greatest fear in life has always been getting old. While I respect it’s something not everyone gets the luxury of doing, I…
I’ve been getting my nails done since I was 15 years old. What started as one nail session for big a date turned…
One of the main questions we ask when we get a new job is about the benefits and how much vacation/personal/PTO time we…
The quote generally used to explain the odd behavior of dogs who scratch at the door to go out, only to take a…
We all have times to look back on and reflect that we weren’t the best version of ourselves. We paint a picture on…
“Where did you people learn to drive?” I’ve said that a million or more times on the road. I am an unofficial road…
You’ve heard of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday – but what’s with this Green Monday? It might just…
There’s something magical about walking into Target for many of us. It’s a place to get what you need and revel in the…
This is in no way sponsored by Trader Joe’s because they don’t love me with the intensity I love them, but I’m used…
I’ve been on both sides of the job interview for decades. I’ve hired more than I’ve been hired, which might help my Spidey…
A road trip is a time to pack up the car and family (and maybe the dogs) and hit the open road. Whether…
From March 2020 through October 2021, I didn’t set foot in a restaurant and rarely went to the grocery store. I had everything…
My life has inherent humor and irony built-in. I think it’s because God knew I was going to be a sensitive soul with…
It’s that time of year. Deck the halls and jingle bells and holiday schedules and the news goes on and who had to…
Let me say first of all I am not an attorney. Any legal decision you make should go through an attorney. Always. I…
There are many people in local news right considering making a jump out of a job with no parachute or backup plan. This…
There are generally two kinds of workers when it comes to sick leave. Those who use it only when they are seriously ill…
It’s November 1 and that means I can talk about Christmas and shopping and decorations! In another “Unprecedented Event” checkbox we are hitting,…
It’s the solid-gold elephant in the room for many journalists. The money “sucks”. Sometimes it’s unlivable, especially in those starter markets. I made…
As I work in between jobs now and explore the world of options ahead of me, I am looking at all kinds of…
There are many posts out there about the Great Resignation, Extinction Alerts, and even articles I’ve written myself about the challenges in local…
Saying “Sorry” is hard for many people to do. It’s even harder for people to actually apologize without defending their reason for the…
I watched last night as a trend started on Twitter of “Trauma Dump“. The Investigative Journalist in me kicked in and I dug.…
I’ve had personal space issues as long as I can remember. Where most people find solace in a hug, it gives me anxiety…
I’ll admit. I had to wait a while to write this article to emotionally distance myself from it, dig into it, and evaluate…
This is an article you’ll need some tissues for because there’s no way to remember losing a pet without a few tears. You’ve…
Everyone who has experience in a newsroom should read this. Not just managers or producers. When I initially wrote this, I was in…
Now the producers get to sound off about success, struggles, and other stuff when it comes to their role in local news organizations.…
This article will either talk you into getting a puppy, or talk you out of it. It’s all about what way you need…
As a child, I went through many things I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be an actress so…
Send your resume named with your full name. Instead of “Updated Jennifer Resume” put Jennifer Hardy Resume. For the most part, we have…
Wikipedia defines a news producer as “..one of the most integral members of any news-production team. The news producer takes all the elements…
Working overnights, it’s not for the faint of heart. Few people say “I want to work overnight while the rest of the world…
Much of communication in 2021 is done via text or group chats. It’s become a normal way to communicate and as one Millennial…
There’s a scene in the 1996 movie “Up Close & Personal” that shows a typical newsroom editorial meeting. I won’t get into all…
It’s that time of year recent graduates are looking for jobs. Coming off the COVID Pandemic, travel has been few and far between,…
“Can you take a look at my reel?”, budding and experienced journalists ask News Directors, colleagues, and friends all the time. If I…
It’s hard as a journalist to “turn it off”. You are your own personal scanner, investigator, and caretaker of story ideas no matter…
Anyone who works in news at some point had to cross an important threshold – someone had to take a chance on them.…
I’ve had the pleasure of talking with a lot of budding journalists, meteorologists, and sports anchors lately as I continue my work to…
“That person is so toxic.” “This place is a toxic dump, why can’t we get more stuff/people/things?” “I got in trouble, again. What…
Weather. It impacts everything we do or don’t do on a given day. If there’s one piece of information we need above and…
I’m inspired to write today after reading a comment in a Facebook Group. It’s a group for Nebraska moms. Now, I am unfortunately…
“I’m not going to say that word.” I was defiant, even at age 8. I knew what words were okay to say and…
It was Saturday morning, and I’d gotten about 2 hours of sleep. We had storms sweep through our market overnight, and while there…
I remember being in a small boat packed with probably too many people, as we moved slowly through the river water. It could…
I’ve written before about how to pitch a story, develop sources, and what not to do in editorial meetings. However, it does all start…
I’ve always loved writing. Even when I was little, I would write stories and even crafted my own musical to perform in front…
“I’m SO burned out!”. You’ve seen it, thought it, listened to it, tweeted about it, posted an Instagram picture detailing it, TikTok danced…
I am the kind of person who, for fun, will do things like reading the National Retail Federation website looking for story ideas.…
I said those words through sobbing tears, the kind that makes it hard to catch your breath, as I sat in the back…
My Grandfather on my mom’s side was a firefighter his entire life. He lived in a “village” called Ladue, a St. Louis suburb.…
UP IN FLAMES: A Reminder to Enjoy the View As I write this, I’m watching part of my adult life literally go up…
“I ALWAYS LISTEN TO MY MOMMY” A young, masked boy’s school photo is as viral as viral gets. This isn’t about a mask…
Best friends and inside jokes go hand in hand, and everyone needs a Stanford in their life. RIP Willie Garson. You’ll always be fabulous to us!
Please read this all the way through. Too many people don’t and there’s a damn good point coming up! HINT: It’s YOU! We’ve…
For as long as I can remember, at random times people would come up to me and say, “Are you okay?”. Puzzled, I’d say “Yes,…
This is Part 1 in a series of articles I’m working on to look at the fast-growing trend of people who say they…
I inherited a great trait from my mother. I Christmas shop all year long. Little by little, a closet grows from empty to…