Telling the important stories

I love a good story. That love of stories made me a voracious reader and writer as a child and it drove me to pursue journalism as an adult.

A well-told story--whether it's true or imagined--should expand one's horizons and leave the reader or listener thinking. Unfortunately, I think many of these stories fall through the cracks in today's media because of limited TV time or page space or because of the overwhelming amount of information available online.

Some readers and viewers may search for the sensational or gossipy stories, but the job of journalists is to tell the stories that matter. Too often, these stories remain untold for many different reasons.

While I believe the news should not be sugar-coated or dumbed down, we still need to make an effort to get the positive and inspirational stories out there, too.

NBC Nightly News does a great job of this. It runs a reoccurring segment called "Making a Difference", in which the story of a person or organization striving for positive change is told. These types of interesting and unique stories capture my attention and inspire me to find these kinds of people in my neighborhood so I can get their messages out there.

"Making a Difference" always runs at the end of the newscast--probably to leave viewers thinking about what they just saw and with some hope...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

A little inspiration...

My latest story for YPNation is now online and it's a profile of an inspiring young professional. Shannon Varney was laid off from his financial management job at the beginning of the economic downturn and sank into a depression. But he was moved into action and created his own non-profit organization; a career move he never thought he'd make.

Check out the rest of Shannon's story at YPNation!

Rick's Marathon Run for Charity

In just over two months, Rick and his sister will take part in a Boston tradition: running the Boston Marathon. (I will take place in another Boston tradition that day: cheering from the sidelines.)

This will be Rick's third full marathon and the first he is running for charity. Rick and Kelly will both be raising money for skin cancer research for the Melanoma Foundation of New England.
Their training is now in high gear and so is their fundraising! If you're interested, pleas visit Rick's fundraising page here. Every amount helps!

Stay tuned for fundraising and Marathon training updates here...

Photo of Rick during the 2009 Hartford Marathon

The Good in Social Networking

I've always had reservations about social networking sites and the spread of social media. While I use Facebook, Twitter and I blog (obviously) and I enjoy them most of the time, I think many people use these sites for the wrong reason or they go overboard. I'm not interested in all the mundane details of people's lives and I think folks over-share to the point that there isn't a real sense of privacy anymore.

But this past week has shown the tremendous power of social networking and how much good can come out of it. The devastating earthquake in Haiti has captured the world's attention. Word spread quickly about how bad the quake hit and the state of chaos in the country. Donations have poured in from around the world and the drive for donations has been so successful because of the use of social networking, media and technology.

With various charities setting up a direct text-to-donate system (including the American Red Cross), donating was easier than it's ever been. I think this system was a great idea and something we'll definitely see in the future, but the initiatives were really successful because of people spreading the word about them through Twitter and Facebook. The texting donation drive was publicized on TV, radio, etc., but the information was (and still is) all over social networking sites. Various reports put the total money raised at $10 million; pretty amazing when you think a lot of it has been done in $5 and $10 increments.

In the past year, we have seen the power of social networking in spreading information and news (like the Iran election riots), and we can now see what an effective fundraiser these sites can be. It's heartening to see Facebook used to raise money for disaster aid instead of updating users on what one just had for lunch.

Photo from Google Images