It’s a strange time to be in journalism. Normally, when someone says that, they’re referring to the advent of Internet-connected mobile devices, which threaten to relegate traditional journalism to the realm of the antiquated ”“ the 21st-Century equivalent of curly-mustachioed shoe shiners. And that is a threat, though mostly to those unprepared for the transition; […]

The Portsmouth (N.H.) Herald, Jan. 16: In 1910, just 9 percent of Americans graduated from high school. By 1940, that number had climbed to 50 percent and today 86 percent of New Hampshire and Maine students graduate high school. America’s high school graduation rate steadily increased as traditional agricultural and industrial economies gave way to […]

I was deeply moved when the French Parliament, after observing a minute of silence for those slain in the Charlie Hebdo attacks, spontaneously broke into singing France’s national anthem. It was the first time that had happened since 1918. The Parliament immediately got down to work, and despite party differences as sharp as those that […]

Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers around New England: The Times Record, Jan. 13, 2015: Filling a gas tank over the weekend cost just $26. Prices like that cause one to blink, and blink again. Yep, the price of gas was very close to $2 per gallon, something that hasn’t been seen since 2009. Not […]

It took a while for Republicans to catch on to what President Obama is doing with the U.S. terrorist prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But now that it’s clear Obama is rushing to empty the place, Republicans are stepping up efforts to stop him. Whether they succeed could have a serious impact on national security, […]

When families face a loved one at the end of their life, unconscious, we often ask, wonder, can Dad hear what we’re saying? I don’t know the answer to that question and I don’t think anybody does. But let me share my story with you if I may. This past Monday, my father, Bill Hardina, […]

At Pittsfield Middle High School in southeastern New Hampshire, the students are individually and actively involved in their own learning. This enlivening approach to education, which I’ve been advocating for years, is beginning in an evolving number of schools around the country. Here, Emily Richmond of the Hechinger Report, an education news site, writes, “student-led […]