I can honestly say that journalism, news and the media are in my blood. My father was a linotype operator for several newspapers in eastern Pennsylvania and I learned to read at age 4 by picking up copies he brought home, to the astonishment of our neighbors. We eventually settled in the northeastern part of the state where we were nearly equidistant between the major media markets of Philadelphia and New York City. Residing in one of the first communities to have cable television, my exposure to state and national issues was expanded by hundreds of miles (that distance would became thousands of miles when I discovered international shortwave radio broadcasting in my teens). I became politically aware in the early 1970s (the two political party conventions in 1972, the Watergate break-in, subsequent congressional investigations and eventual presidential resignation) and this passion continues to this day through a variety of media sources.
I enlisted in the US Air Force in the early 1980s and had the opportunity to live outside our nation's borders for almost 11 of my 24 years in uniform. Tours in England, Italy and Japan exposed me to the familiar yet differing methods that those 'free' societies employed via radio, television and the press to keep their citizens abreast of current events and important information. I was assigned to intelligence work which has rules and objectives similar to journalism but a different--and secretive--customer base. I continue this work today as a defense contractor and I hope that my pursuit of a continuing education certificate in this field will improve my overall professional competency and perhaps provide me opportunities to achieve a lifelong goal that may have been programmed into me before birth.
P.S. This bio is deliberately vague due to my current desire to maintain some anonymity in my online activities. This blog's mission is to document my progress during the certificate program as well as to help me identify academic/professional areas requiring improvement or increased attention. Once I achieve my goal, I should have the confidence to shed the nom de plume and establish myself in my media of choice.
