First rough draft of history

Although there are many ways to be a reporter — you can be a print or radio journalist, or a podcaster; you can cover breaking news or provide context and background later, you can write briefs or go long-form — it’s possible that Jen Maxfield is the iconic kind.

She’s the one standing next to the victim or the victim’s spouse or parent or child, or the next-door neighbor, or the Nobel prize winner who’s just gotten the middle-of-the-night call from Sweden, or the subway rider who was next to the terrorist, or the would-be diner who was put off by the giant rats feasting on pizza.

Read more

Jewish Book Council “Meet the Author”

This speech was delivered at the Jewish Book Council “Meet the Author” event on May 25, 2022: As a TV news reporter at NBC in New York, I meet people on the best and worst days of their lives. I ring their doorbells, sit in their living

Read more