GirlTalkHQ recently published my essay about why journalistic courage matters right now, as journalism is being threatened at a moment when we need its skepticism and truth telling more than ever.

It was inspired by watching Tony-nominated actor George Clooney who I met in New York City after seeing his phenomenal play, Good Night, and Good Luck, about how a CBS journalist, Edward R. Murrow, sacrificed his career in order to speak truth to and about U.S. Sen. McCarthy.

The essay begins this way:

I didn’t want a selfie. I didn’t want to grab George Clooney’s hand. I just wanted to tell him something.

I stood on 7th Avenue in Manhattan at the end of a long line by the Winter Garden Theater’s stage door after having seen “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Clutching the play poster I’d purchased while I waited for its star and playwright, I wasn’t there to fangirl but to deliver a message: “I teach journalism and I very much appreciate this show and how you’re standing up for the importance of journalism.” 

With a black “Good Night, and Good Luck” baseball cap tucked low on his dyed-black hair and oversized, tinted aviator glasses covering a substantial portion of his face, Clooney, the son of a journalist, signed my poster and responded to my message saying, “Well I appreciate anyone who teaches journalism.”

You can read the rest of the piece here.