In a right-size group and the perfect setting for a Carmel Valley afternoon, CVWC members and friends who attended the March 24 Fireside Chat talked with award winning journalist Suzanne Bohan about the state of news today.
From her start in the news business as a “stringer” for the Sacramento Bee to her work as a staff writer for the Bay Area News Group to the articles she writes today as a free-lance journalist, Suzanne has used her undergrad degree in biology to focus on health and science topics. After returning to school to earn a master’s degree in journalism from Stanford University, she continued to write stories that would not only report on problems but also would cover initiatives aimed at solving them.
One of the highlights of her career was winning the 2010 White House Correspondents’ Association Edgar A. Poe award for the series “Shortened Lives: Where You Live Matters” on why life expectancies vary so dramatically between nearby neighborhoods. She attended the Correspondents Dinner that year, where she met Barack and Michelle Obama.
At the Fireside Chat, the group talked about where and how they get their news and how their news-reading habits have changed. Many still like the experience of reading an actual newspaper – which Suzanne said is important because of the ad revenues print copies bring in to support news coverage. Many of those in the chat said they now supplement news coverage with digital sources. Suzanne shared five steps for vetting a news source. She also stressed the role local newspapers - such as the Monterey Herald and the Carmel Pine Cone - play in keeping citizens well-informed about what’s going on in their own world.
Each Fireside Chat participant went home with a copy of Suzanne/s book “50 Simple Ways to Live a Longer Life.” Suzanne’s other book is “Twenty Years of Life: Why the Poor Die Earlier.”
Our thanks to Conne Sutherland, Heidi Sebok and Katie Read for procuring the drinks and appetizers, setting up the room; staying behind to reset the furniture and clean up; and whisking away the garbage and recycling.