Tue, Feb 9, 2010

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I'm a 30 year veteran of radio news, which included stops at several really good radio stations in New York and New Jersey before coming to the "Big City" more than 15 years ago as a radio network producer. It all started at a little 500 watt radio station in Hyde Park, New York (really!)

My first job was at WHPN just up the street from FDR's Mansion. It was an all-news daytimer, which means the station went off the air when the sun went down.

I remember rushing to cover a story about a mass murderer who had escaped from a nearby prison, and by the time I got there, the sun was down and the station was off the air.

And that pretty much explains what the life of a reporter can be: hurry up and wait.

I spend much of my time covering northern Virginia. But as reporter here at WTOP, I can be reporting on almost anything, anywhere.

One day it's overcrowded schools in Virginia, the next day politics in D.C., and the day after that, it's something fun like the Nats last game at RFK.

It's exciting most of the time, and tedious sometimes.

I approach every story with "how does this affect the public." Even what some call 'boring political stories,' have an impact.

If you report them right, so that people understand what it means for them, it will have an impact.

During my time here at WTOP, I have covered some big stories, but none compare to the Virginia Tech shootings, the Sept. 11 attacks and the "sniper shootings."

I love to cover consumer stories, and things that affect people in daily lives usually have the most impact. People forget sometimes, when they hear us on the air that we have lives too. We pay local taxes, we own homes, and we send our children to local schools. The stories I report often affect me too.

I'm married, with adult children and currently live in Virginia. My commute is as bad as yours. That could be me next to you bumper to bumper on I-95 each day.

I only have three passions in life: my family, the Boston Red Sox (I was raised in New England) and journalism, in that order.

I've written two books. "If the Log Rolls Over" was published in 2005, and "News of War", an action adventure novel, was published in the fall of 2007.

Hobbies? When I have the time I collect political campaign paraphernalia: campaign buttons, posters and the like (I did a story on this too). My collection is now over 200 buttons.

 

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