[Click here or hit the lighthouse link to skip the intro and jump down to my clips] Page Index: Most Recent Clips || New Orleans || Tennessee || Georgia || The Wires || The Beach Beat Contact Info: If you like what you see here and want to hire me, the best way to get in touch is my new high speed e-mail address: fast2write@gmail.com. Or you can call my cell phone: (205) 960-3639. Go here to check out my resumé. To read and/or print the clips, READ ON!
This winter I've been covering the federal fraud trial of deposed HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy for The New York Times. Last year, after breaking a version of the Bush AWOL story on Feb. 2, 2004, I did a stint in D.C. in the spring and summer for States News Service and free-lanced for Time magazine on the biggest story in the world at the time, the 372nd MP Company that tortured prisoners at Abu Graib. For the previous four years, I taught journalism and free-lanced out of New Orleans for the Dallas Morning News, the Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times, Gambit Weekly and People magazine. Back in the early 1990s, after 10 years in the news business, I took an academic detour and taught journalism for nine years. While working on a Ph.D. in Science Communication at Tennessee in the late 1990s, in the early days of the Internet, I worked with other students to develop The Southerner magazine online. In the wake of the dot com bubble collapse, and then the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, I jumped back in the news game full-time, online. Need a pro to get the story? Give me a shout. Most Recent Clips, 2005 HealthSouth's Richard Scrushy On Trial Will the Real Richard Scrushy Please Step Forward A Meeting on The Lake Maneuvers With Numbers at HealthSouth Ex-HealthSouth Officer Faked Numbers Richard Scrushy Goes on Trial The New York Times, Jan. 26- New Orleans to Washington, 2004 UPI National Feature Protests Line Up for Bush Inauguration United Press International, Dec. 23, 2004 Terror Against the Press FBI Report Questionable on Domestic Terrorists Blowing Up Media Trucks Southerner Daily News, July 28, 2004 Court for Pollutors Power Plants Face New Round of Air Pollution Lawsuits The Gary (Indiana) Post Tribune, July 15, 2004 A House Vulnerable GOP Sends Cash to Beef Up House Races The Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 13, 2004
The Hollywood Reporter, June 7-28, 2004 [E-mail me for the password to read these.] Bipartisan Anti-Piracy Bill Gets Unanimous Senate OK Court Overturns FCC Caps - Alternate Free Link Senate Bill Targets Net Piracy Senate Votes to Jack Up Indecency Fines Sachs Resigns as Top Cable Guy Senate Committee OKs Satellite Bill Family Time on The Hill Election-Year Challenge for Nets MPAA Creates PSAs to Stem Net Film Piracy Movie-Filtering Legislation Could be Introduced Clear Channel Agrees to $1.75 Million FCC Fine Kerry Hits Media Consolidation The Lost Year George W. Bush in 1972 Alabama Southerner Daily News, Feb. 2, 2004 The Big Easy, 2000-2004 Global Warming Louisiana Marshes Face Rising Gulf The Dallas Morning News, Jan. 2, 2004 Honeymoon Over? Mayor Nagin's 'Honeymoon' May be Over Failed Endorsement May Get in New Orleans Mayor's Way The Dallas Morning News, Dec. 6, 2003 USA Domestic Politics A New Style and Tone for Louisiana Politics The Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 16, 2003
Neuroscience Conference in New Orleans For the Doctor's Guide to the Internet, Nov. 9-14, 2003 Terrorist Threat? Hydrofluoric Acid Makes for 'Danger Zone' Around Plant The Louisiana Weekly, Oct. 20, 2003 Texas & Southwest The Deal That Made an Empire The Dallas Morning News, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2003 USA Domestic Politics Alabama Vote Roils Alliances and Stirs Moral Quandaries The Christian Science Monitor, Sept. 8, 2003 USA Society and Culture Reporter Ejected from Press Conference Ten Commandments Judge Continues Defiant Rebellion The Christian Science Monitor, Aug. 27, 2003 USA Society and Culture Shreveport Bishop Seeks Diversity, $5 at a Time The Christian Science Monitor, Aug. 13, 2003 Church's Offer to Pay 'Had Definite Impact' The Dallas Morning News, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2003
NY Times' Stringer Defends Use of Freelancers Editor and Publisher, June 23, 2003 The Left Divided Can the Country Stand It? A Progressive Southerner Weblog. Happy Hour Debate on How to Take Back the White House in 2004 Gambity Weekly, June 3, 2003 Cleaning up the French Quarter Battle of New Orleans Pits Artists Against Psychics The Dallas Morning News, Sunday, May 24, 2003 French-Bashing Dismissed in New Orleans C'est Dommage: Whatever The Dallas Morning News, March, 2, 2003
700-Pound Rocket Engine Tracked by Radar The Christian Science Monitor, Friday, Feb. 7, 2003 [Also worked this story for the New York Times.] One Foot in the New South, Two in the Old Sen. Trent Lott's Comments Dredge Up the Past The Christian Science Monitor, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2002 [Also worked this story for the New York Times.] On the Lookout for a Serial Killer In Louisiana, Debate Over a DNA Dragnet The Christian Science Monitor, Friday, Feb. 21, 2003 Civil Liberties Questions Raised in Louisiana Authorities' Search The Dallas Morning News, Friday, Jan. 3, 2003 [Also worked this story for the New York Times.] Lessons From Lili National Weather Service Hurricane Specialist James Franklin Reveals How Much We Know — and Don't Know — About Hurricanes Gambity Weekly, Oct. 15, 2002 [Also worked the hurricane story for the New York Times.]
A Trial Examines Whether a Judge's Decision to Display a Stone Tablet at a Courthouse Violates Church-State Divide. The Christian Science Monitor, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2002 [Also worked the verdict story for the New York Times.] National Exclusive Giuliani Reveals Thoughts on WTC Site UPI National Desk, Monday, August 26, 2002 New Orleans Survives Two Hurricanes in a Week Experts Worried About Marshes A sidebar to the main hurricane coverage for The Dallas Morning News, Oct. 4, 2002 [Also worked this story for the New York Times.]
Puts Fear in Wind By RICK BRAGG with GLYNN WILSON The New York Times, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2002 Alternate Link Bayou Serial Killer Baton Rouge Jittery Over Serial Killings The Dallas Morning News, Friday, August 9, 2002 [Also worked this story for the New York Times.] On the West Nile Front Line Louisiana Town Acts to Squash Mosquitoes Carrying Virus The Dallas Morning News, Friday, August 2, 2002 [Also worked this for the New York Times.]
New Orleans Voodoo Wards Off 'The Big One' The Southerner, Summer 2002 New Orleans Braces Itself for 'The Big One' The Dallas Morning News, Thursday, July 18, 2002 Texas & Southwest New Orleans Abuzz with Canal Street Brothel Case The Southerner, Summer 2002 Brothel Raid May Expose Clients The Dallas Morning News, Sunday, June 16, 2002 Texas & Southwest What's Furry, Hungry and Wanted by the Law? The Southerner, Summer 2002 The Dallas Morning News, Sunday, June 2, 2002
Ending the Cuban Embargo Could be a Boon for the Southeastern Economy The Southerner, Summer 2002 Science & Society Louisiana Takes Fresh Approach to Save Coast The Southerner, Summer 2002 The Dallas Morning News, Sunday, May 5, 2002 Culture Wars Louisiana Senate Picks Prayer Fight in Cultural War The Southerner, Summer 2002 The Dallas Morning News, Saturday, April 20, 2002 Taps for Woodpecker? Search Team Not Sure: No Ivory-Bills Spotted Despite Sounds, Markings The Dallas Morning News, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2002
Birders Flocking to Find Whether Endangered Species is Extinct The Dallas Morning News, Sunday, Feb. 17, 2002 Gennifer Flowers Letting the Good Times Roll Clinton's Former Flame Opens Piano Bar in New Orleans The Dallas Morning News, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2002 The Home Front Environmentalists regroup to consider their options in an increasingly hostile climate — and put the state DEQ on the front burner. Gambit Weekly, Monday, Oct. 8, 2001 Bayou Beholden
The Dallas Morning News, Sunday, May 20, 2001 Eight is Enough State Slacking in Enforcement of Environmental Laws Gambit Weekly, Cover Story: May 6, 2001 Down on Their Luck Harrah's Suffers Streak of Bad Luck in the Big Easy The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sunday, Jan. 14, 2001 Texas & Southwest Oil Spill Doesn't Stop Orange Fest Good Times The Dallas Morning News, Dec. 2, 2001 
The Tennessee Years, 1996-2000While teaching at the University of Tennessee School of Journalism and working on a Ph.D., I still kept my hand in the journalism game. For three years we developed a mock up of the magazine of the future, a general-interest magazine online called The Southerner, as in The New Yorker of the South. The inaugural cover story is a good example of the new Net journalism. 
Alternative Weekly JournalismI also did some interesting alternative weekly journalism during this period, including this cover story for MetroPulse. It made the alternative weekly wire and the link is still up. Singin' the Blues I have an abiding interest in music of the South, mainly blues, jazz, and a bit of roots and bluegrass. I also started playing the drums in the '70s in rock bands, and still play from time to time at blues jams as an amateur. And I occassionally see a music feature I can't help but write. When I first heard Sara Jordon sing the blues, I knew I would write about her. May she rest in peace. This local hero spotlight features Sara Jordon: Queen of Knoxville Blues. Of course everyone didn't like the story in its entirety, although this letter writer's criticism is mostly tongue-in-cheek: Moanin' The Blues. Up In Smoke This is my first cover for MetroPulse, an update on the national debate over ambient air quality standards. - Print Version. 
From Bama to Georgia Time and the Olympics of 1996The day my Master's thesis was signed at the University of Alabama in August, 1995, I landed a job teaching journalism at Georgia College the year the Olympics came south to Atlanta. While there, David Burnham's book on the Justice Department came out, citing an investigative piece I did on former Ala. Gov. Guy Hunt. This is the book review on it for the Macon (Georgia) Telegraph,.
ABOVE THE LAW: Secret Deals, Political Fixes, and other Misadventures of the U.S. Department of Justice. The Beach Beat, 1989-92; 1984-85. One of my most rewarding journalism experiences took place on the Gulf Coast between 1989 and 1992. I've scanned a few old clips from that period, well before the Internet was cool, as well as a few clips from my first year as a cub reporter in 1984. There are also a couple of columns in this old clip archive.  F.A.S.T. || NewsBreak || Research || Resumé ||
Leisure || Top
 
 |
