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I am a digital immigrant with an infinite love for narrative and a history of making radio.
I find particular joy in working with photographers, because they understand the importance of being fully present in the moment.
I believe that listening is the beginning of understanding, and I believe that stories have the power to change our lives.
Author Archives: Michelle
Body Mechanic
My friend Nancy Crooks is a genius. No, seriously. She is a really gifted body mechanic who has devoted her life to learning all kinds of healing touch methods. A while back, she asked me to do a video for … Continue reading
Posted in New Media
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Sacred Rivers: Tashlikh on the Hudson
The Yadkin River partners — Christine, Phoebe and I — spent Rosh Hashanah on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I’ll never forget it. We set out early that morning on foot in search of people going to the banks … Continue reading
Posted in New Media
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Elizabeth’s Story
For the last several months, Journal reporter Laura Graff pieced together the story of Elizabeth Lentz, Ms. Wheelchair North Carolina 2011. It’s a remarkable and moving piece of serial journalism that gives readers an intimate look at the life-shattering experience … Continue reading
Posted in New Media
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Dedicated
My colleague Lisa O’Donnell wrote this top-notch, and way overdue, story about guitarist Lowman “Pete” Pauling and the 5 Royales, a legendary R&B group from Winston-Salem that never got the kind of mainstream respect they deserved. Lisa is a heckuva … Continue reading
Posted in New Media
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Podcast Redux
The relish.com podcast has been evolving over the last few months, and I gotta say that I’m pleasantly surprised by how much fun it’s become to produce. YouTube and our vast photo archive make for a entertaining treasure hunt each … Continue reading
Posted in New Media
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A Pig Tale
As an online editor, I don’t get to write much for the daily paper anymore, but I haven’t lost my capacity for attracting stories wherever I go. So the other day, when my friend Jeanne started telling me about the … Continue reading
Not for the faint of heart
When I started fiddling around in digital media, there was one thing I swore I’d never do: get in front of the camera. For one thing, I have a wardrobe made for radio. I mean, look up ‘the rumpled look’ … Continue reading
Posted in General
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On Turtle Island
Yesterday I escaped the newsroom and the self-imposed prison of my computer and drove up the mountain to do a tape sync for the Radio Netherlands show “Earthbeat.” I love doing tape syncs for radio shows, because I generally get … Continue reading
Posted in Broadcast
Tagged Eustace Conway, radio, Radio Netherlands, technology, Ted Richardson
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The life and death of Zahra Baker
When my friends at the Hickory Daily Record asked me a couple of months ago to help them with a video project about the Zahra Baker case, I said an enthusiastic “yes” right away, despite the fact that a) I’d … Continue reading
The fabric of story
I love this. Joan M.E. Gaither, a Maryland-based documentary fabric artist and retired educator, spent two years documenting the National Black Theatre Festival in quilt form. It has sweep and exquisite attention to detail. Spread on a king-size bed, its … Continue reading
Posted in New Media
Tagged National Black Theatre Festival, video
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The ghosts of urban renewal
“Most Forsyth County residents don’t know it,” wrote Journal reporter Annette Fuller in today’s front-page story, “but when they travel Business 40 at U.S. 52 — the county’s busiest intersection by far — they are driving right on top of … Continue reading
Posted in New Media
Tagged David Rolfe, urban renewal, video
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A Labor of Love
As an editor, I’ve learned to love living vicariously. Other people, reporters and photographers, go out and collect material and then they bring it back to my desk and say, “Here, can you do something with this?” Photographer David … Continue reading
The Poems Department
It’s pretty unusual these days to get a hand-addressed envelope delivered to the newsroom. (And much of the time, such letters are what we call “jail mail”, long entreaties from inmates who have nothing but time on their hands to … Continue reading
Metamovie
Every year around this time, our little tobacco town puts on the RiverRun International Film Festival. It’s a big deal, and it’s one of the best things about living in Winston-Salem, but I never seem to have enough time to … Continue reading