Pulitzers, Peabodys and, yes, NLGJA awards ー the best writers seem to get the best awards and all the glory, but often they also get the extra time to do it. But there are ways to write great copy on tighter deadlines. Hear from some of the best experts in the business share tips on how they make the magic happen, regardless of format and time constraints.
Panelists: Jay Alpert, Benoit Denizet-Lewis, Dr. Jon Paul Higgins, David McCabe, Lance Richardson
JAY ALPERT is a veteran journalist with nearly 20 years of experience in communication. He is currently a writer/producer for ABC’s “Good Morning America” in New York, which recently won its second Daytime Emmy in a row for Outstanding Morning Program. Alpert covers a wide variety of topics at GMA, ranging from politics to general news to celebrities. Alpert previously worked at Al Jazeera America and local stations including WABC-TV, the number one station in New York; KTNV-TV in Las Vegas, where he was an executive producer; and KYW-TV in Philadelphia, which won the Edward R. Murrow Overall Excellence Award. Alpert also spent several years in public relations working for an agency, a large hotel/casino company and serving his own clients. Outside of the newsroom, Alpert lives in Manhattan with his partner, Blaze, and their dog Mr. Fox.
BENOIT DENIZET-LEWIS is an associate professor at Emerson College, a longtime writer with the New York Times Magazine, and the author of three books, including the New York Times bestseller “Travels With Casey.” Denizet-Lewis has received awards from GLAAD and NLGJA and was named one of the 50 Most Influential LGBT media members by The Advocate. His 2011 profile of ex-gay activist Michael Glatze was turned into a film (“I Am Michael”) starring James Franco and Zachary Quinto. At Emerson College, Denizet-Lewis teaches courses in publishing, journalism and gender and sexuality studies.
DR. JON PAUL HIGGINS is a speaker, writer and social justice defender. They are both a Lambda Literary and Maynard 200 fellow and writes regularly for Presence.IO. Their work has been included on sites like The Root, Blavity, INTO, Efniks, Talkspace, Bitch Media and more notably, Them. Dr. Higgins is committed to using their voice to highlight and bring focus to the issues that affect both the Black and LGBTQ communities. In September 2016, they launched a YouTube channel where they posts weekly videos about race and identity issues and began sharing pieces of their a mini-documentary highlighting stories related to their life as a queer Black non-binary person growing up in the inner city of San Bernardino, California. Dr. Higgins continues to lecture all over the country on topics related to intersectionality, race, gender and sexuality and has gained attention from websites including Attn: and Vox. Dr. Higgins completed their Educational Doctorate of Leadership in Justice from the University of Redlands where they wrote their dissertation on the first-year experiences of queer men of color in higher education.
DAVID McCABE covers the collision of technology with policy and politics for Axios. Recently, his reporting has focused on the groundswell of policymaker skepticism toward Silicon Valley, the trial over the AT&T-Time Warner merger and high-profile debates at the Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission. A native New Yorker now based in Washington, D.C., he has been on the tech policy beat since 2015.
LANCE RICHARDSON has written for numerous publications, including The Guardian, New York, The Atlantic, Slate, The New Yorker (online), The Sydney Morning Herald and several international iterations of GQ. He holds a masters degree in longform journalism from the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, NYU. Originally from Australia, he now lives in New York.