Welcome to Ink-Drained Kvetch, my very first blog.
My name is Wendy Parker, and I am a veteran reporter, web editor, multimedia journalist.
I am the editor and publisher of East Cobb News, a community news website based in metro Atlanta, where I grew up and where I have spent most of my career.
I knew I wanted a career in journalism from the time I first stepped in my high school newspaper office as a 13-year-old freshman. That hasn’t changed, even in the wake of devastating reductions in many media fields that has directly affected me more than once.
My passion for the doing the news hasn’t dissipated, but instead has been re-energized by my migration to online journalism a decade ago.
Most of my print media experience was at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where I was a reporter and website editor until the great newspaper implosion of 2008.
After that, I went totally online as local editor for Patch, AOL’s community news initiative that also imploded, in early 2014. I also have been a freelance writer and contract web editor at Public Broadcasting Atlanta’s WABE.org, an NPR affiliate station.
Despite these experiences — and I enjoyed them immensely — I remain bullish about the role of journalism and in particular its importance at the community level. What I’ve learned is that citizens and communities want good, authentic, solid journalism without gimmicks. In fact, they hunger for it. There are tremendous opportunities to serve them in new ways online that newspapers, for as much as I will always love them, cannot.
These humbling realizations have helped soften the sometimes jaded, hard-edged journalist I had become. What I’ve gained is some badly-needed wisdom from people whom we purport to be doing journalism for, but far too often have ignored.
My posts here are a blend of thoughts on my profession, the broader media industries and how those of us who have worked in them are expanding our skills and recreating our lives to adapt to constant change.
Here’s more about what I’ve done in my career. In addition to reporting and writing, I have editing, blogging, photography and video experience, as well as social media, site and project management and content consulting. I’ve also written an e-book as I learn about the world of digital book publishing.
You can reach me via e-mail at wendygparker@gmail.com and on Twitter and LinkedIn. Please get in touch and let me know what you think about what you read here. I’d love to hear from you.
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Ink-Drained Kvetch 