Melissa Etheridge: not in Kansas anymore - First and foremost, Melissa Etheridge is a performer. For her solo “This Is M.E.” tour, the rock star is showing off her lead guitar chops.
Live from Nevada City, It’s the Geezer Gig! - “Party like an animal and be home in bed by 10.” Proving you’re never too old to rock’n’roll, Bob Woods and friends tear it up in a world-wide webcast by KVMR community radio from the Crazy Horse Saloon in Nevada City, California.
What follows are links to samples of my writing from very asssorted genres. I will rotate articles from time to time. Some of the links will take you off-site. Please don’t forget to come back. To see almost everything I’ve published in the last 10 years, please go to my page on Muck Rack.
The quest for affordable housing in Nevada County - There’s no place like home - except when you don’t have one. Nevada County’s homeless problem is caused by a lack of affordable housing. Native Americans locked out of their cemetery - This was the beginning of a strange tale of covert racism, white guilt, intertribal tensions, and bureaucratic gridlock. The cemetery was quickly reopened, but the underlying issues were still unresolved when I left the the newspaper. Raid on a pot farm - It can take a long time for law enforcement officers to trust a reporter. While it’s easy enough to get a press relations ride-along in a patrol car, it’s not so easy when guns and deep undercover officers are involved.

I’ve investigated street drugs, alleged prostitution, illegal marijuana grows and crooked

contractors, but the most enterprising investigation I’ve ever done was to find out who ran a secret

satirical e-zine that was amusing and annoying prominent citizens. It took me months to pierce

their veil of secrecy: The Nevada County Scooper sheds light on “issues of the day” through satire.

Sometimes you get an assignment that is so weird that you have to take a weird angle to do justice to the subject. As my publisher Gil Gordon noted in his introduction to A Tale of Two Commuters, the topic was, on the face of it, totally crackpot - until I put a face on it. Close Encounter with a Porcupine - Some stories just write themselves. And this story is true. I don’t think I actually hit the porcupine but I must have nicked it. The story is really about how I learned to hit a drop-dead deadline.
SETI Researchers Sift Interstellar Static for Signs of Life - Soft-core technical writing for executives and non-engineers. Digital Radio Receiver System - Technical marketing to engineers. SMAC - Applied as a New Gigabit Ethernet Protocol - Hard-core technical writing for engineers.
I I wrote this a long time ago. It was my philosophy then, and it still is.
Confessions of an Oxytocin Junkie - Is the pandemic causing us to lose the human touch? What’s Wrong with Women’s Rights? - Her body. Not your choice.

In 2017, One Source-Empowering Caregivers was a new nonprofit that needed to establish its

service to the community, so I put them on the front page: Caring for the Caregiver. For the next

two years, I maintained their dynamic presence in print and social media. The contract concluded

with a creative training and recruitment documentary called It Takes a Village.

CTA v Gould I - Pre-verdict analysis of a multi-year, multi-million dollar lawsuit by the California Teachers Association against the State of California over the misappropriation of funds from Proposition 98 lottery income designated for education. There was a gag order, but I found deep- throat sources on both sides. CTA v Gould II - Post-verdict analysis. CTA won. Most papers reported a $373 million settlement, but that was only the first payout. The actual settlement was $1.76 billion. Most papers didn’t get that. Workers Compensation Fraud: Crime and Punishent - Tired of watching workers comp stakeholders blaming each other fraud, I decided to examine how each stakeholder group defrauds the system, feeding on the injuries of workers.
©Tom Durkin Media 1998-2023 This site made with Xara Best viewed on a computer
Julie Baker took a “funky little performing arts center” in Grass Valley, California, and turned The Center for the Arts into a nationally known venue for A-list performers and stars in niche genres. After eight years, she stepped down to start her own arts and entertainment company.
Tom Durkin Media
In my capacity as managing editor of Xcell Journal, it was my occasional privilege to interview Wim Roelandts, the CEO of Xilinx Inc., and write his column. Here’s what he had to say about How to Survive a Recession and Gain Market Leadership.

Entertainment

Legal and Legislative Analysis

Technical Writing

Easy reading is damn hard writing. - Maya Angelou

Handbook for Peer Counselors - When I taught peer counseling, there was no “textbook,” so I wrote one.

Ghostwriting

Creative Nonfiction

Investigative Reporting

Marketing

News Reporting

Copywriting

Editorial/Op-Ed

Peer Counseling

Personality Profile

Melissa Etheridge: not in Kansas anymore - First and foremost, Melissa Etheridge is a performer. For her solo “This Is M.E.” tour, the rock star is showing off her lead guitar chops.
Live from Nevada City, It’s the Geezer Gig! - “Party like an animal and be home in bed by 10.” Proving you’re never too old to rock’n’roll, Bob Woods and friends tear it up in a world-wide webcast by KVMR community radio from the Crazy Horse Saloon in Nevada City, California.
What follows are links to samples of my writing from very asssorted genres. I will rotate articles from time to time. Some of the links will take you off-site. Please don’t forget to come back. To see almost everything I’ve published in the last 10 years, please go to my page on Muck Rack.
The quest for affordable housing in Nevada County - There’s no place like home - except when you don’t have one. Nevada County’s homeless problem is caused by a lack of affordable housing. Native Americans locked out of their cemetery - This was the beginning of a strange tale of covert racism, white guilt, intertribal tensions, and bureaucratic gridlock. The cemetery was quickly reopened, but the underlying issues were still unresolved when I left the the newspaper. Raid on a pot farm - It can take a long time for law enforcement officers to trust a reporter. While it’s easy enough to get a press relations ride-along in a patrol car, it’s not so easy when guns and deep undercover officers are involved.

I’ve investigated street drugs, alleged prostitution, illegal

marijuana grows and crooked contractors, but the most

enterprising investigation I’ve ever done was to find out

who ran a secret satirical e-zine that was amusing and

annoying prominent citizens. It took me months to pierce

their veil of secrecy: The Nevada County Scooper sheds

light on “issues of the day” through satire.

Sometimes you get an assignment that is so weird that you have to take a weird angle to do justice to the subject. As my publisher Gil Gordon noted in his introduction to A Tale of Two Commuters, the topic was, on the face of it, totally crackpot - until I put a face on it. Close Encounter with a Porcupine - Some stories just write themselves. And this story is true. I don’t think I actually hit the porcupine but I must have nicked it. The story is really about how I learned to hit a drop-dead deadline.

Technical Writing

SETI Researchers Sift Interstellar Static for Signs of Life - Soft-core technical writing for executives and non-engineers. Digital Radio Receiver System - Technical marketing to engineers.
SMAC TM - Applied as a New Gigabit Ethernet Protocol - Hard-core technical writing for engineers.

Ghostwriting

In my capacity as managing editor of Xcell Journal, it was
my occasional privilege to interview Wim Roelandts, the CEO of Xilinx Inc., and write his column. Here’s what he had to say about How to Survive a Recession and Gain Market Leadership. Copywriting Durkin Gibbs & Associates - I wrote this about 35 years ago. It was my philosophy then, and it still is.

In 2017, One Source-Empowering Caregivers was a new

nonprofit that needed to establish its service to the

community, so I put them on the front page: Caring for

the Caregiver. For the next two years, I maintained their

dynamic presence in print and social media. The

contract concluded with a creative training and

recruitment documentary called It Takes a Village.

CTA v Gould I - Pre-verdict analysis of a multi-year, multi- million dollar lawsuit by the California Teachers Association against the State of California over the misappropriation of funds from Proposition 98 lottery income designated for education. There was a gag order, but I found deep-throat sources on both sides. CTA v Gould II - Post-verdict analysis. CTA won. Most papers reported a $373 million settlement, but that was only the first payout. The actual settlement was $1.76 billion. Most papers didn’t get that. Workers Compensation Fraud: Crime and Punishent - Tired of watching workers comp stakeholders blaming each other fraud, I decided to examine how each stakeholder group defrauds the system, feeding on the injuries of workers.
Tom Durkin multimedia writer-editor-photographer
Julie Baker took a “funky little performing arts center” in Grass Valley, California, and turned The Center for the Arts into a nationally known venue for A-list performers and stars in niche genres. After eight years, she stepped down to start her own arts and entertainment company.
Tom Durkin
multimedia writer-editor-photographer