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I'm going to be away from @CJR's newsletter and more or less off this website for the next month—this year has been a lot, and I'm taking some extended time off. Before I go, though, I wanted to share some of the non-newsletter pieces that I freelanced this year and was proud of:
Ok, this isn't a non-newsletter thing, but I was honored when @GuardianUS republished some of my @CJR work. My mum—who passed away nearly 10 years ago—was a religious Guardian reader, so it meant a lot to be published there. This was my best one, I think: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/30/felicia-sonmez-affair-was-not-journalism-finest-hour
In late January, when we were still allowed outside, I attended a pro-Brexit rally in London on the day Britain formally left the EU, and wrote about it for @nplusonemag. My piece was part sketch, part reflection. (I campaigned against Brexit in 2016.)
https://nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/a-very-brexit-party/
https://nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/a-very-brexit-party/
I then pitched @theintercept about the surprising similarities between Boris Johnson and Mike Bloomberg, who served opposite each other as mayors of London and NY. When I pitched, Bloomberg was ascendant. One week later he was out. I did the story anyway. https://theintercept.com/2020/03/05/mike-bloomberg-boris-johnson-new-york-london-mayors/
And then, the pandemic. In April, I reported a long piece, also for @theintercept, returning to an old beat of mine: US state lotteries, which stayed open after COVID hit, sparking health-and-safety—as well as financial—concerns among players and staff. https://theintercept.com/2020/04/16/coronavirus-state-lotteries-gambling-essential/
In the summer, I took an even broader swing at the same topic—investigating how the pandemic has affected the lottery industry globally for @WPReview, working with my old lottery-beat colleagues @JeffKLO and @rayjoe. We found a pivot to more online sales. https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/29057/why-critics-are-concerned-by-lotteries-online-push
My deepest-reported—and probably favorite—piece of the year was for @CJR: a COVID-era profile of The Lancet and its controversial editor, Richard Horton. The piece explored the bounds of medical knowledge and what constitutes the medical establishment. https://www.cjr.org/special_report/the-lancet-covid-19-medical-studies-politics.php
Finally (and again, this one *is* newsletter-related), as the election approached, I worked with @byPeteVernon, who wrote @CJR's newsletter before I did, to round up what four years of writing about Trump and the press taught us about Trump coverage. https://www.cjr.org/special_report/coverage-trump-presidency-2020-election.php
I have one more big swing coming before Christmas, but for now, I want to thank the editors who made all this work possible, and improved it: @kylepope, @BetsyMorais, @ravisomaiya, @USProjectCJR, @chameauleon, @mlaws71, @nausjcaa, @PrachiVidwans, and many others.
More generally, I'm immensely grateful to have my health, my family, and an always-interesting, frequently-exciting job in this industry that I really, really love, despite the many ways in which it's frequently rubbish. I'll be back to annoy you all again in 2021. Peace.
