Writing

Blackboard Makes Unlikely Move Into Open-Source World
Education Week, April 4, 2012
This is a good example of how Education Week and I intend to cover some of the major deals in the education industry. Rather than simply report on the terms of Blackboard’s acquisition of two companies that offer a competing product, I analyzed what it means for both educators and the industry as a whole.

Read a larger sampling of my work at Education Week here. Read and follow my blog, Marketplace K-12, here.

Enter the Innovation Officer: Districts Design New Jobs
Education Week, February 29, 2012
My first enterprise story for Education Week, on the proliferation of district- and state-level jobs focusing on “innovation.” The jobs turned out to be about more than a buzzword. Despite a wide range of job responsibilities, most positions were thinly veiled attempts for districts and states to look more attractive to funders.

Jury finds Maryland campaign manager guilty of election fraud
Reuters, December 6, 2011
This is the culmination of my coverage for Reuters of a major election fraud trial in Maryland. A former campaign manager for Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich was found guilty of fraud for authorizing robocalls during the 2010 elections that, a jury ruled, aimed to prevent African Americans from voting. It’s the first trial in Maryland to test an amended law that defines fraud in the context of voter suppression. The ramifications are far-ranging. Defense attorneys argued the messages were protected by the First Amendment and plan to appeal and implied it could reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Prosecutors hope the ruling sets a firmer precedent for what constitutes fraudulent political messaging. Jurors interviewed, some of whom were cut from the final version of the story, found their decision a referendum on the sanctity of voting rights.

Convicted Maryland murderer gets prison, not death sentence
Reuters, November 2, 2011
This is the last of four pieces (bit.ly links bundle) I wrote for Reuters about Maryland’s first trial to test its new death penalty law, which was instituted in 2009 and is the most restrictive in the country. I previewed the trial and then covered all three phases of it, filing all four pieces on immediate deadline.

An archive of my work for Reuters can be found here.

As workforce ages, industries struggle to prepare for wave of retirements
The Washington Post, September 2, 2011
This is a piece I did for News21 that The Washington Post published Sept. 4, 2011, on the front page of its business section. For this story, I traveled to Brazosport College, near the chemical processing plants of companies like Dow Chemical and BASF, in Freeport, Texas. Jason Alcorn and I used examples like Brazosport, which now trains Dow’s new employees using its own retirees, to tell a broader story of how American industry’s are dealing with large swaths of workers retiring.

At the End of the Road
The New York Times, August 29, 2011
An article and video, completed as part of the News21 fellowship, on an assisted-living RV park in Livingston, Texas. I spent five days at the park shooting and reporting with a colleague, Dewi Cooke. The piece was published on The New York Times “New Old Age” blog, in the Heath section.

As the Job Changes, Tensions Grow and Teachers Seek Refuge in Classroom
School Stories, May 10, 2011
This is part of a package on teacher tenure policy in New York City and how it dictates the dynamic between teachers in an upper Manhattan school. For the package, I wrote this article, shot and edited short video segments, developed an interactive timeline and produced an infographic.

Teaching the Teachers for America
School Stories, March 21, 2011
I wrote this story for a course on covering education. It’s about a former public school teacher who mentors participants in Teach for America. Except many of his beliefs about teaching run in direct contrast to Teach for America philosophies.

Delivery City
self-published, March 21, 2011
A digital media master’s project published March 21, 2011 at www.DeliveryCityNYC.com, by my classmate, Jason Alcorn, and I. The article is embedded with multimedia elements, including video, photos and interactive graphics. Through a social media readership push, the site drew 2,000 page views and 700 unique visitors on its first day.

José Gregorio Has Left the Bar; Its Owners Want Him Back
The New York Times, Feb. 16/Feb. 20, 2010
Published on Feb. 16 on NYTimes.com’s City Room blog and Feb. 20 in the Metropolitan section of The New York Times. Other New York Times work here.

Team Taino: “Every Kid Here Has A Need”
The Uptowner, Nov. 30
Part one of a four-part series following a nascent youth basketball program formed after a streak of gang violence at Taino Towers housing project in East Harlem. Entire series found here.

Twitter, Facebook Embolden Harlem Youth Crews While Aiding Peacemaking Pastor
The Uptowner, Oct. 13, 2010
For this story, I used advanced Twitter search to track the activity of a man posing as the killer of a young Harlem girl.

Three teens charged in Betts killing
The Gazette, May 5, 2010
House haunted by bloody past
The Gazette, April 21, 2010
In April of 2010, a popular middle school principal picked to head the reform efforts of Michelle Rhee, former Washington, D.C., schools chancellor, was killed at his home. I covered the incident for the web and wrote the latter article, “House haunted by bloody past,” for the subsequent print edition. I spent most of my deadline day using public property records to reach the realtor who sold the principal his house in 2002, shortly after another homicide occurred there. I reached her on deadline and put together the exclusive story. Later, other media outlets picked up the story and USA Today interviewed the realtor for its own story. The former story, “Three teens charged in Betts killing,” ran online the evening of the arrests and on the front page of all local editions of The Gazette in two counties. Other articles covering that investigation can be found at http://bit.ly/h2hdGP.

12 angry men . . . plus a nice retired couple
The Washington Post, Oct. 29, 2009
I met this couple during the recess of a murder trial I was covering. I asked whether they were with the defendant or the the victim; they said neither and I had my story. The Post published this story in its weekly Montgomery County insert; the full version was published on the front age of several local editions of The Gazette on Oct. 28. Find my other work for The Washington Post here.

Experimental musicians expand boundaries of sound in Silver Spring
The Gazette, Sept. 30, 2009
I shot a video to accompany this story. It can be viewed here.

Kelly guilty of killing wife outside church
The Gazette, Sept. 9, 2009
My colleague and I traded days covering this explosive trial, posting updates to the web every day. For the final story, I took both of our reporting and weaved this lengthy story together.

Patients continue legal fight for medical marijuana
The Gazette, Sept. 2, 2009
2nd place in Medical/Science Reporting, 2009. Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association Awards, in category of non-dailies with circulation more than 20,000.

Filmmaker takes on new role to spotlight his struggles with ALS
The Gazette, Nov. 12, 2008
2nd place in Feature, 2008. Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association Awards, in category of non-dailies with circulation more than 20,000.

Teenager fatally shot on bus
The Gazette, Nov. 5, 2008
Man sentenced to 50 years in prison for killing teen
The Gazette, Oct. 14, 2009
We got word early on a Monday morning that a popular teenager had been shot and killed on a bus over the weekend. A colleague and I headed straight to the boy’s house while a third reporter worked the phones with police. The incident had widespread ramifications–the county changed its practices regarding police reporting of immigration status and several youth activism groups formed to push nonviolence, after the incident shed light on youth gang activity. Our coverage won 2nd place in Continuing Coverage, 2008, in the aryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association Awards, in category of non-dailies with circulation more than 20,000. The coverage also received honorable mention in the Young People’s Coverage category of that year’s Suburban Newspapers of America editorial contest.

A Re-Renewal
Philadelphia City Paper, Nov. 14, 2007
As a freelance contributor, I wrote this cover story for City Paper.