My grandfather, Bill Brown, was drafted for the Army in 1943, eventually becoming a sergeant in the Battle of the Bulge. His job in the war was to string communication wires so that the Army could communicate, and to trouble-shoot any technical errors that were found. Years later, he sat…

This is me screaming. — I am leaving Tennessee. This place is my home. I grew up here, learning to ride horses and play music in the rolling hills around Nashville, boating on the TVA lakes in Celina and Gallatin, going to Opryland, and mentoring Girl Scouts at Camp Sycamore Hills. I am entirely educated…

The story of how Gaylord Entertainment shuttered an iconic Nashville attraction for “no compelling reason.” These days, it’s a Nashville joke that it’s rare to meet someone who grew up here. In 2014, the New York Times called us “America’s new ‘IT’ city” and that was that. We got our own primetime network show, starring Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere. Suddenly, everyone wanted to vacation…

Midnight. March 3. 2020. The human brain has another gear that it goes into when it learns it is in danger. Time slows down, or the brain speeds up, and seconds feel like entire lifetimes. For a moment, just one single moment that somehow also felt like an infinite forever, I stared down the…

A study of the propaganda tactics used by QAnon to influence public opinion. — Modern Context An increasing number of scholars and public officials in the United States have been sounding the alarm on creeping fascism in America, specifically after the election of Donald Trump in 2016 and the subsequent flaunting of democratic norms. Dr. Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State and UN Ambassador…

At first, the storm was just wind. No rain, or thunder. Just wind. Starting in slow gusts and then blowing faster and faster. Whipping across the world with no care for old tree limbs and patio umbrellas. The power went out quickly, the old trees weren’t as strong as they…

Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create and act using all forms of communication. Before you share a piece of media, here is a good list of questions to ask. — Access How did I come across this piece of media? What is the source of this message and what might the bias be? Why might an algorithm have served it to me? When was it written? Analyze Is the information presented as fact or as an opinion?

For the first time in decades, research shows younger people are more inclined than older generations to pay subscriptions for their news. — Writer’s note: This Medium series, How Shifting Media Business Models Influence Local Engagement, has been adapted from my Master’s Thesis at Middle Tennessee State University. For links to other sections and references, see the bottom (and please clap). Rapid changes in the business models of the news industry have large…

Writer’s note: This Medium series, How Shifting Media Business Models Influence Local Engagement, has been adapted from my Master’s Thesis at Middle Tennessee State University. For links to other sections and references, see the bottom (and please clap). Rapid changes in the business models of the news industry have large…