A/V: 2016 SPJ Region 4 & 5 Spring Conference

Cincinnati, Ohio's "Queen City", served as the host for this year's Society of Professional Journalists' joint regional spring conference in April

Perhaps it was the notification I received in my email inbox on Monday that thanked me for attending. Maybe it was Tuesday's observance of World Press Freedom Day that I saw continuously featured on my Google News feed. Or perhaps I'm energized by that evening's primary election rhetoric and the historic nature of the choice made by Indiana's Republican voters. Whatever the reason, I knew I had been putting off posting about this event for far too long. Three week-long out-of-state business trips intermixed with my regular hometown office responsibilities and a slight seasonal cold have put me slightly over 30 days behind in documenting my experiences at this annual gathering of rising young stars from journalism academia. With the 2013, 2014 and last year's conference under my belt, my streak continued with this year's offering held at Cincinnati's Kingsgate Marriott Conference Center on a blustery April day.

A/V: Buckeyes Feel the "Bern" at Sanders' Columbus Rally

Vermont senator Bernie Sanders addresses enthusiastic attendees at his rally at the Ohio State University's Schottenstein Center on Sunday evening in Columbus, Ohio.

Just two days before a potentially close and contentious Ohio primary election, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders held an enthusiastic rally in Columbus on Sunday evening to capitalize on the momentum gained in last week's surprise victory in neighboring Michigan. Already in the state's capital for two other events later in the evening, his campaign hosted this gathering for over 7,000 supporters at the Ohio State University's Schottenstein Center to advocate his own political positions as well as contrast them against those held by the Republican presidential candidates and his own party's primary opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

A/V: Trump Holds Raucous Republican Rally

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses supporters at a rally held at Wright Brothers Aero in Vandalia, Ohio on Saturday morning.

With Ohio's Republican primary election less than four days away, another high profile politician paid a visit to the Miami Valley to garner support from the region's electorate. On Saturday morning, billionaire businessman Donald Trump flew in to the Dayton International Airport to appear at an rally held at the adjacent Wright Brothers Aero facility in Vandalia, Ohio. An overflow crowd of several thousand people greeted the current Republican delegate leader in his attempt to boost his totals and to clear an easier path to securing the party's nomination at their June convention in Cleveland.

A/V: Buckeye Boss Buoyed by Balloting Bounce

Ohio governor John Kasich begins his town hall event in support of his recently surging presidential campaign at the Fuyao Glass America plant in Moraine, Ohio on Friday evening.

Encouraged by improving polling data that indicates a tightening of Ohio's Republican presidential primary race, Governor John Kasich started a 4-day, 10-event trek across the Buckeye State in a bid to continue his White House bid past next Tuesday's elections. After a visit to Lima earlier in the day, the candidate made a stop in the Miami Valley on Friday evening to conduct a town hall meeting attended by over 800 people at the Fuyao Glass America plant located in the Dayton suburb of Moraine.

A/V: "Big Dog" Barnstorms for Bride

Former President Bill Clinton stumps for his wife's presidential campaign at the Montgomery County Democratic Party's annual Frolic for Funds dinner in Dayton, Ohio on Wednesday night.

In the first of several high profile political visits to the Miami Valley prior to next Tuesday's Ohio presidential primary, the Montgomery County Democratic Party welcomed former president Bill Clinton to speak at the start of its annual Frolic for Funds dinner at the Dayton Convention Center on Wednesday night. This event was the last of three appearances Clinton made in the state throughout the day in support of his wife's current Democratic presidential campaign that is running in a competitive race against that of Vermont senator Bernie Sanders. Mayor Nan Whaley provided brief remarks to the overflow crowd prior to introducing the meal's guest speaker.

Soap Box: The Fall Race We Deserve (But Probably Won't See)

While Clinton and Kasich are their respective parties' most qualified candidates this campaign season, their capabilities are being eclipsed by voters' preference for style over substance.

Our copy of The New York Times arrived on the driveway early yesterday morning and, because of the  current internet-based paradigm of "pushing" news before it's seen in print, I already knew what it contained regarding today's Iowa caucuses. On the eve of this long-awaited start to the 2016 presidential primary process, the paper's editorial board announced its choices for endorsements--the time-honored political practice of publicly bestowing support to or approval of a person or position. With a long history of endorsing presidential candidates that goes back to Abraham Lincoln's first run for the White House in 1860 (and an overall 61 percent--24  out of 39 times backing the winner--accuracy rating for those general elections), the receipt of  "The Gray Lady's" auspicious sanction was seen by many politicians as a needed boost to a flagging campaign or as yet another example of the inevitability of their cause or candidacy to the voting public. In today's social media-dominated world where everyone can have a platform and express an opinion, newspaper endorsements have diminished in importance but are still seen as "bellwethers" to gauge support within the media "establishment".

A/V: Dayton MLK Day Observances

Bundled-up participants march along West Third Street towards the Dayton Convention Center on Monday morning to observe the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday.

Single-digit temperatures and sub-zero wind chill warnings did not stop several hundred members of the greater Dayton community from marching and assembling on Monday morning to commemorate the life of  the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr on the 30th anniversary of the federal holiday and the 87th anniversary of his birth. The march and rally were two of eight January events sponsored by MLK Dayton Inc., a multi-racial, multi-ethnic organization established to inspire citizens to act on the vision of social justice created by the legacy of the slain civil rights advocate.

A/V: GOP "Architect" Visits Dayton

Republican political consultant and policy strategist Karl Rove speaks at a book signing event at Books-A-Million in Beavercreek, Ohio on Sunday afternoon.

For an hour this past Sunday afternoon, many at an Ohio bookstore gathering were introduced to an American presidential election held in in the late 19th century to help them gain perspective on the very interesting political atmosphere in the present day. Karl Rove, a former deputy chief of staff in the George W. Bush administration and a man whose name is ubiquitous within Republican political circles, visited the Beavercreek, Ohio Books-A-Million store to sign copies of his latest book The Triumph of William McKinley: Why the Election of 1896 Still Matters.

A/V: Carson Rally at Cedarville University

Dr. Ben Carson speaks to attendees at a rally held for the Republican presidential candidate at Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio on Tuesday afternoon.

Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson made a campaign swing through southeast Ohio on Tuesday to help bolster his rising favorability polling numbers after a respectable showing during last week's second GOP debate. Sandwiched between a morning event in the Cincinnati surburb of Sharonville and an evening Right to Life Foundation fundraiser in Dayton, he paid a visit to the campus of Cedarville University located in the shared named Greene County village. The Baptist evangelical school provided the appropriate backdrop for Carson to share views on his life, faith and  politics to the capacity crowd assembled in the Dixon Ministry Center's Jeremiah Chapel. Prior to the start of the rally, Dr. Carson took questions from media members outside that venue during a 15-minute press availability where he further elaborated about comments made during a Sunday interview with Chuck Todd on NBC's Meet the Press television program concerning religious criteria for presidential contenders .

Journalism's "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad" Week

(NOTE: I was going to use this phrase for a post back in February when the Brian Williams career "inflation" imbroglio, Jon Stewart's retirement announcement and the deaths of CBS News reporter Bob Simon and New York Times' columnist David Carr all happened in a very short span; however, this past week's events have greatly outdone that earlier gloom and deserve the headline.)

Three separate (but unequally tragic) instances happened last week that created seismic-like waves in the journalism world

I call myself a "citizen journalist"--one who currently practices the tenets of this profession in a "when I can get to it", part-time role. I do not rely upon this activity to support myself financially and have been largely absent here over the past eight months. I also conduct it without having to put my personal freedoms, my reputation, or--as horribly depicted on live television--my life on the line. Unfortunately, all three of these examples were witnessed last week and I feel compelled to comment on all of them as a member of this extended "family".

A/V: Ohio Governor Throws Hat into Very Crowded GOP Presidential Ring

Ohio governor John Kasich addresses the crowd attending his "special announcement" event at the Ohio Union building on the campus of the Ohio State University in Columbus last Tuesday morning.

In a 45-minute speech last Tuesday teasingly advertised as a "special announcement", Ohio governor John Kasich became the latest candidate to announce their bid for the Republican nomination for president in the upcoming 2016 cycle. Ending all suspense for the gathering's reason near the 18-minute mark, he said, "I am here to ask you for your prayers, for your support, for your efforts because I have decided to run for president of the United States." He made this declaration from the atrium of the Ohio Union on the campus of the Ohio State University, his collegiate alma mater and the location where he first expressed his desires for pursuing a political future.

A/V: 2015 SPJ Region 4 Spring Conference

Athens' Ohio University played host for the 2015 SPJ Region 4 Spring Conference.

The Ohio University chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists hosted members from all across the organization's Region 4 area (Michigan, Ohio, Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia) for its 2015 annual professional development Spring Conference on March 20-21 in Athens, Ohio. Over 150 journalists, educators and other associated personnel came for the unique networking and mentoring opportunities with other attendees as well as the staff of the institution's  nationally recognized E.W. Scripps School of Journalism.

A Review of My "Year of Application"

In a practice that--thanks to our ever-increasing reliance on electronic devices--is becoming less frequent, humans switch out their calendars in the annual event of "ringing out the old and ringing in the new" around this time of year. It serves as an opportunity of reflection, introspection and resolve to guide us along our paths in the new year. While I have no wall hanging to change out, I do have this blog to browse through for that same purpose. According to my first post for the year that just ended, 2014 was supposed to be my "year of application" and to spread my journalistic "wings" and, except for the tailing off near the end, I think I can claim success.

In that submission, I talked optimistically about using the skills I acquired through my then-recent completion of my Certificate of Journalism from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in the lead-up to being laid off from a job that I held for a little over five years (that was alluded to as a "year of transition").  I initially established a schedule that I would follow for my posting of new content onto this site that was slowly cast aside based upon wavering levels of interest as well as opportunities taken (and ignored) throughout that 12-month period.

Here's a breakdown of my 52 posts last year:

In Memoriam: Stuart Scott

An undated photo of ESPN sportscaster/host Stuart Scott who succumbed to cancer earlier today at the age of 49.

It was just before 11am this morning when I saw the news about the passing of longtime ESPN sportscaster/host Stuart Scott when it popped up in my Facebook newsfeed via a friend's status update. I knew that he had been ill of late but denials of unfounded rumors of hospice care in early December were the last time I noticed any news about his condition. Although he put up a very brave 7-year fight, Scott succumbed to appendicial cancer, an extremely rare variety of this disease that affects about 1 in 9 million Americans and also was a factor in the death of legendary actress Katherine Hepburn back in 1993.

My "No Show" November

I hadn't missed an entire month since June 2013 and only done so twice in the 41-month run of this blog

Near the end of a productive year (51 posts in 10 months), it appears that I have done something I've only done once before in the history of my blog--I missed an entire month! A span of 38 days went by where I did not post any items to this website and that would be considered a "drought" instead of the few "hiatuses" I took while doing my journalism certificate program. A little bit of background information will help explain the rationale for my absence.

Back in July, I started an 8-part series about my "journo-less" summer where I mentioned that I was unemployed at that time. Unfortunately, that situation remains in effect and it seemed to come to a head in October when yet another delay was going to push any job hopes off until early in 2015 (at the earliest). Once my state jobless benefits ended in early August, I've been on my own and things have become more critical on the financial front as the months have gone by. With the day-to-day anxieties weighing heavily on me, I did what any 50-something might do--I ran away from home (with my wife's permission) and took a credit card-funded "road trip" to get me away from my problems for just a little while.