Some Writerly Advice

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First I saw this silly article about women foregoing bikini waxes.

Then I read a WSJ article on laid-off execs growing beards.

Pubic hair. Beards.

I never wrote one word about the biggest story of my early journalism years: Monica Lewinsky. The controversy itself was so unworthy and the topic so beyond covered, I decided I’d hold off until and unless I had something worth saying about that topic. I never did, so I let that big story go without my ‘expertise’. So here’s my advice to writers trying to get in on Obama’s win and the economy’s losses: If you don’t have something worthwhile to say, it’s ok to say nothing. Really. A decent idea, or a story more in your line, will come along.

I will give the hair stories this though: Both the men and the women in these pieces feel like “real” men and women letting their hair go natural. What’s up with that?

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Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do.

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