Small papers best positioned to survive recession, changing news business
My first newspaper job was selling classified ads over the phone for The Valley Times in Beaverton, Oregon, the summer after my freshman year in college. I’d started writing for my college paper and was thrilled to have a job – any job – in the newspaper business, even if it meant inputting ads for [...]
Room to write
The first time I worked as a freelance writer I shared an apartment with a roommate and had my office in my bedroom. Between working and sleeping I probably spent 18 hours a day in that 12 x 12 room. A few years and several full-time jobs later I once again found myself temporarily working [...]
New Portland WordPress user group to meet Jan. 15
Portland bloggers who use WordPress are set to gather for the city’s first WordPress user group meeting on Thursday, Jan. 15, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The meeting takes place at CubeSpace, the inner S.E. Portland workspace community for writers, programmers and other independently employed people. According to the organizers, the meeting will cover: Getting [...]
Merry Christmas to all
WordCount is busy celebrating the season and playing in the snow. Beginning Monday, Dec. 29, I’ll spend a week rerunning some of the year’s most popular posts on freelancing, digital media and the news business. Until then, Merry Christmas!
In Portland, the big story is snow
The weather here has turned from major distraction to major story. In Portland, snow of any kind is a rarity and snow before Christmas just doesn’t happen all that often. The city’s at sea level, locked between the coastal mountain range and the Cascades, so conditions have to be just right for the stuff coming [...]
Portland Wordstock book festival recap
I went to Portland’s Wordstock book festival over the weekend. John Hodgman, the PC in the “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” ads, was one of the stars of a weekend that was filled with signings, readings, writing workshops and other book-related activities. In case you missed it, I wrote this guest post about Wordstock [...]
Mediabistro hosts Portland 'Election Hangover Party' on Nov. 18
The scene-sters at Mediabistro.com know how to work an angle. With last week’s historic election still fresh in everyone’s minds, Mediabistro has renamed the writers gatherings it regularly hosts “Election Hangover Parties.” Whether you’re celebrating Obama’s victory, the end of what seemed like an endless campaign or just want an excuse to talk about those [...]
Come tomorrow, stop what you're doing and vote
Tomorrow is Election Day. In honor of the occasion, I’m interrupting my regularly scheduled posts to encourage everyone to take a few minutes out of your normal routine and vote. Here in Oregon, we vote by mail. I sent in my ballot last week, so I’ll be spending tomorrow with one eye on work and [...]
Portland is for word lovers
Portland has a lot of nicknames. Stumptown. The Rose City. Rip City. Bike Town. Tree City. But come Nov. 8, the best name will be Portland is Wordsville. That’s the day the annual Wordstock literary festival begins and Portlanders renew their passion for words. Now in it’s fourth year, Wordstock is a two-day celebration of [...]
National Press Club hosts forums on future of news
A year-long series of forums on the future of the news business rolls into Portland next week, courtesy of the National Press Club. The Washington D.C. professional journalist organization will host a forum on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the University of Oregon’s newly opened Turnbull Center in downtown Portland. The stop comes in the middle [...]
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