Some Writing: Greatest Hits
Artwork by Sarah Lawrence
The News Futures Civic Info Cookbook
How would you explain “civic media” to someone who’s never heard the term? While the News Futures charter lays out our collective goals, where people often get stuck is explaining what the work looks like in practice, and how it differs from traditional journalism and other forms of storytelling. Jihii Jolly and I led a working group in 2025 to create this theory of change + practical guide (it has worksheets!) for those looking to create more civic media.
Journalist As Circulator
What if the activities journalists get up to (and get paid for) were re-designed to help solve society’s problems rather than focus on creating content? A provocation from my time at Stanford.
Sex & Startups
Co-authored by Mara Zepeda (in 2016!), this is the essay that started a movement. It’s critique of startup culture's "liquidity event" mentality and a call for companies built around purpose, not just profit. And it sparked thousands of responses from founders around the world — and led directly to Zebras Unite.
Art by Arthur Jones
Zebras Fix What Unicorns Break
The follow-up manifesto to Sex & Startups that named a new kind of company — and a global movement. Coined the term "zebra startup" to describe businesses that are both profitable and purposeful, real not mythological, and built to survive through cooperation rather than domination. Referenced in publications from the New York Times to Nikkei.
Fun fact: two of the founders are Mara ZEpeda & Jenn BRAndel. ;)
AI Couldn't Care Less. Journalists Will Care More.
A counterintuitive argument for doubling down on what machines can't replicate: genuine human care. Includes Bingo Card! Published in NiemanLab's annual predictions series, which draws some of the most widely circulated voices in journalism.
Topic: Ways to Do Journalism Differently (Better)
I’ve done a lot of tap dancing on the keyboard on this topic. Here are some of my most referenced writings, many in collaboration with other rabble rousers:
Civic space is closing: How local journalism can open it up (2025)
Prepare for the unthinkable (2025)
Take care, make care: dispatches from the Care Collaboratory (2024)
How and why we should bring the living room into our newsrooms (2024)
Planning a town hall with candidates? Try a reverse town hall instead. (2024)
Newsrooms should treat the electorate like the hiring committee it actually is (2024)
‘Permanently emerging crisis’: Tips for journalists to counter threats to democracy (2024)
Lessons for Journalists from Amanda Ripley’s Book, High Conflict (2023)
Make your voter guide ICONIC (2022)
The great transition (2022)
Letter to the Editor: Hearken’s audience engagement model (2018)
Don’t be an Askhole: Toward an ethical framework for engagement (2018)
A serious problem the news industry does not talk about (2016)
Want to be good for democracy? Be better at democracy. (2016)
A comic treatment of a tragically broken process in journalism (2016)
Becoming more agile (2013)