Degree(s): MA '85

Whereabouts: United States, Leesburg, Virginia

What do you do?
I am the editor and publisher of Washington Information Source Co., a newsletter publishing firm focused on FDA compliance news.

How did you get your job?
I began this publishing business in 1991 after covering the FDA for a few years for other publishers. Before 1986, I was in the newspaper business, except for the two years at Mizzou (1984-85).

What is the best professional lesson you learned at the J-School?
Accuracy, fact-checking as well as how to use documents and not be afraid of doing so.

What advice do you have for current students?
Writing and editing skills are still excellent to have, but the future is in social media and specialized television, so it would seem. Trade newsletters like mine have taken a hit as the practice of journalism changes. Public relations and advertising also seem to be good fields.

What is your favorite J-School memory?
The seminars for the 75th anniversary and some of the awards I received for an investigative series in the Missourian. I also met my first wife there.