“Reading a Book is Like Life:
You Live it One Page at a Time.” (Ron Yates)
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About Ronald E. Yates
Author, former foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, and Dean & Professor Emeritus of the College of Media at the University of Illinois, his acclaimed works are now available through this site.
The Latest From My Blog
A Little Trivia about the National Holiday we call Thanksgiving
The following is a compilation of Thanksgiving trivia from The Old Farmer’s Almanac & the Indianapolis Star. My thanks to both of these fine publications. It’s Thanksgiving Day, and millions of Americans will celebrate by tucking in for a big meal with friends and family, by watching football games, and maybe …
A Piñata of Miscellanea. Go On, Take a Swing!
“And now for something completely different,” as they used to say on the old Monty Python show. Every week, I receive heaps of emails containing bits of wisdom, humor, anonymous information, and lots of weirdness. Usually, I give these things a quick read and delete them. Today, however, I thought …
Confessions and Apologies from a Regular Guy
I used to think I was just a regular guy, going about my life, as President Lincoln once said: “with malice toward none and charity for all.” Boy, was I wrong. Just take a look: I was born a white male, which means, whether I like it or not, I …
Two Contrasting Views of American Journalism
Journalism has been my life. For almost 30 years, I worked as a reporter and foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. Later, I taught the art and craft of journalism as a professor and dean of the College of Media at the University of Illinois. I share those bona fides …
Is Nancy Pelosi the Lucrezia Borgia of Congress?
Historical myths say that Lucrezia Borgia was a seductive poisoner who carried a hollow ring filled with venom, hosted orgiastic banquets, and eliminated lovers and rivals at will—an archetypal 16th-century Renaissance “femme fatale.” As Duchess of Ferrara, Lucrezia exercised a lot of agency: she managed a sophisticated court, patronized artists …
Happy Veterans Day to my Fellow Veterans
Today is Veterans Day. Given that only 6 percent of the people of this nation have ever put on a uniform–including those currently serving–I am not sure many Americans have any idea why Veterans Day is a holiday. Yes, it means schools and most government offices are closed. But it …
Communists now control America’s three largest cities
When I was a sergeant in the United States Army Security Agency, there was no confusion about who the enemy was. It was the communists. Of course, that was in the 1960s, before socialist/communists like newly elected New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Chicago’s Brandon Johnson, and Los Angeles’s Karen Bass …
New Yorkers Deserve What They Get If They Elect Mamdani the Commie
London’s Daily Mail newspaper predicts 800,000 people will flee New York if Muslim communist Zohran Mamdani wins today’s mayoral election. The poll, conducted by J.L. Partners for the Daily Mail, may be understating the mass exodus from New York if Mamdani takes over Gracie Mansion. Already, the New York Stock Exchange …
Trust in News Media Sinks to New Low
A recent Gallup poll has just confirmed what most Americans have known, or at least suspected, about America’s mainstream media over the past couple of years. The news media have lost credibility at an alarming rate, and confidence that the news is being impartially reported has dropped to its lowest …
Journalistic Method Part 3: Test Your Powers of Observation
When I was teaching journalism at the University of Illinois, I often gave my students a test designed to see just how observant they were. Observation, as I have pointed out in previous posts, is a critical skill writers need to master IF they are to provide clear and vivid …
Journalistic Method for Authors (Part 2)
How can the methods of reporting and writing practiced by professional journalists possibly benefit those who write fiction? After all, the rules of journalism demand that you shape your writing to your material, not the other way around. The answer can be found in the fundamentals of the writer’s craft: …
Journalistic Method: A Technique for Authors (Part 1)
Without a doubt, one of the best places to learn the craft of writing is in the professional newsroom. The number of successful authors of fiction and non-fiction books, who began their careers as journalists, is remarkable. Here is a list of 10 (It could be 50 or 100): Charles …
