The News Was Better Then

This is the 380th blog I've written and it will be my last, but that's not actually the big news today.

I'm happy to announce my second book is now out and you can get a copy today.

First the Bad News

I started writing a blog ten years ago this coming May. I’ve decided this will be the last one.

I’ve enjoyed writing them, liked the feedback I’ve received and the overall reaction to many of them, but I’ve decided to use the time for other things in life.

Writing the blog was always the easy part for me. I’ve been writing for close to 50-years, so writing a 1,000-word blog once every week or so isn’t a big deal. It’s everything else that needs to be done that adds up. Everything from getting it to look nice on my website, to getting the blog ready to be sent to my mailing list, to social media posts to promote it take a lot of time and attention.

I’m sure there will be times I’ll get the urge to write about what some politician said to reporters, or how the media is covering a certain story, but I’ll quickly remind myself of the work involved.

I’ve wanted to stop writing the blog several times in the past, but it never seemed like the right time. Now it does, which brings me to my next point.

Now the Good Part

Earlier this year, I decided to put my “best” blogs into a book and that book is now available to purchase.

It’s called The News was Better Then: Stories From Inside Media Newsrooms and Political Backrooms because so many of my blogs are about the changes we’ve seen in the last generation to mainstream media. The book is also a personal journey through my work as an on-air radio journalist, to someone who did public relations for a few years, to the last 17-years I’ve worked as a media and communications trainer.

It’s about my hometown of Edmonton and news and sports developments over the past decide in Alberta and across Canada. It’s also about some of the interesting people I’ve met along the way. More than anything, it’s about the news media in Canada, a subject that doesn’t get as much coverage as it should in my opinion.

I use the term “best” to describe the blogs in the book. In most cases, they’ve been the most widely-read blogs, or ones that have received the biggest reaction. Maybe they are the best. That’s something people who read the book will have to decide.

Even though the news media has sometimes lost its voice, I still yell at my TV. The book talks about why.

The News Was Better Then has over 40-blogs and it runs about 188-pages.

It’s available on Amazon Books in paperback, and e-book and look at that - it’s out just in time for Christmas!

Thanks for reading.

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