The Recovering Journalist
Ruth Ann is a "recovering journalist."
Starting out as a teen deejay in her native Buffalo, NY, she spent three decades in media work, including Emmy-nominated television reporting and anchoring at the CBS-TV affiliate in Nashville, TN, a daily talk-radio program on WLAC-AM, and 17 years as a columnist for the Nashville Banner. Ruth Ann served on the board of the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Society of Professional Journalists, of which she has been a member for over 30 years.
Ruth Ann also holds membership in the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences, the Radio and Television News Directors Association, American Women in Radio and Television, the Buffalo Broadcasters Association, the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference Community, and is a lifetime member of the Broadcasters Foundation.
The Starchitracter’s Dilemma
Day 108 There’s a guy I know who’s a builder. He’s (technically) not an architect, but he designs buildings and gets a “real” architect to sign off on the plans. He’s a contractor, supervising the build on site. He envisions the landscaping, has a say in the selection of every item associated with the building [...]
Full StoryScooped on the Poop
Day 104 Oprah Winfrey was living with John Tesh? Man, I thought I was a reporter. Here I was working in the same newsroom, desks right next to each other, and I had no clue that Oprah and Tesh were an item until the details of Kitty Kelley’s new book started leaking. So now I [...]
Full StoryOwe O? Oh, No.
Day 103 Kitty Kelley can’t get the good gigs because everybody’s “afraid” of Oprah ? It’s reported that Kitty did 850 interviews to get material for her new unauthorized biography of Oprah Winfrey and now nobody but Meredith Viera and Bill O’Reilly will let her come on television to sell talk about the book. I was not [...]
Full StoryDon’t Tweet, Don’t Tell
Day 98 The occasion was an invitation-only event, and I had my BlackBerry out to live-tweet some of the day’s speakers. But I had begun taking handwritten notes in a hard-cover blank book, a recent gift. I was using a mechanical pencil with a satisfying feel. I decided it would be more pleasurable to continue using paper-and-pencil technology, [...]
Full StoryYou’re Gonna Cry
Day 96 I was going to write about something else entirely today, but then I noticed it was Day 96. When I first mentioned what a number conjures up for me, I heard from many people who wanted to share what certain numbers mean to them. I have really enjoyed this dialogue, so I’ll continue [...]
Full StoryThe Job of The Job
Day 95 I am not counting it as “work” when I coach strangers on the internet. I joined Aardvark last year and I enjoy the opportunity to answer the random questions that people submit online. This morning, Aardvark sent me a question from a California man who said he was having “no luck” finding a judicial clerkship. I’ve [...]
Full StoryIt Only Cost A Quarter
Day 91 I’m overdue on my promise to give you a link to what its editor is calling “A Collaborative Sketch.” It looks like a book to me, but I’ll admit it definitely looks like a sketchbook! Jean Russell conceived, curated, corralled, and culled the offerings of over five dozen contributors. Each was asked to write [...]
Full StorySpeaking of Susan, I Was.
Day 83 Now I can say I’ve been on the same bill as Anita Baker, Dave Mason, Tim McGraw, Big Kenny, Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, Governor Phil Bredesen, Senator Bill Frist, Senator Lamar Alexander, Mayor Karl Dean, Terry Bradshaw, Michael Bolton, Pete Coors, Ross Perot, Jr.,Frances Williams Preston, Danny Gokey,The Fisk Jubilee Singers, and John Seigenthaler, [...]
Full StoryI Pick This Brain
Day 75 During my sabbatical I am looking for sources of delight, and I can always count on Maria Popova to provide a plethora. I can’t remember how or where I first heard of her. Maybe it was Twitter , maybe it was through her creation called TEDify in which she does a mashup of TED Talks. [...]
Full StoryWhat’s The Headline?
Day 66 It’s probably possible to avoid all Oscar hoopla, but I haven’t. So I’ve seen most of the nominees being interviewed, and it’s amazing how many of them refer to their obituaries. They know that if they win tonight, their obituary headline will contain the words “Academy Award Winner.” And many of them also [...]
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