Have you ever noticed (I have) that journalists and media folk seem to be stories in themselves…oftentimes having lives and having a personal history more interesting than the stories about others that they are busy getting “out there?”

Proving my observation is Caron LeNoir whose own adventures include (to list only a few) a 14 year military history of service (1994-2008) in both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army, being confirmed as being a fully disabled veteran only after suing the VA to attain that deserved status, being a self-taught computer programmer, performing a public service announcement for the FTC warning about veteran charity scams, surviving five years of homelessness to create a successful path towards entrepreneurial journalism including owning her own radio station, etc., etc.

But her present efforts, built on this foundation which includes her membership in the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and more recently in Military Veterans in Journalism (MVJ) deserve a look. 

Caron attracted LRT’s notice when she and several other veteran journalist members of MVJ participated in the launch of LRT’s new Rethinking Heroes (RH) public radio broadcast series on famed KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles, CA which hits the air every Friday morning drivetime from 9-10 a.m. PST (noon EST).  (Want to listen in at those times? Here’s the direct internet link: https://www.kpfk.org/player/)

VMJ is placing its members at the top of the hour to read the news – this time items about and for the veteran audience while; a unique way to provide broadcast exposure for their members while supporting a national campaign called Veteran Mission Possible and its mission to bring greater awareness to suicide and medical debt in that community and celebrating the “Solution Providers” that come up with remedies.

Naturally, Ms. LeNoir was among those selected.

“It was a rush,” Caron said of this opportunity to deliver veteran-centric news to KPFK’s listeners locally and nationally through public radio affiliates. “It reconfirmed my own determination to see that veterans like myself get greater experience and exposure within the media world. I personally felt revitalized.”

Entrepreneurial Journalism?

In bygone days, journalism and entrepreneur would never be included in the same sentence. Entrepreneurs “did” it, and journo’s “reported” it. No longer. The days of a secure position in any sector of media, whether print, broadcast or otherwise, is no longer assured or even possible.

U.S. newsroom employment has fallen 26% since 2008. Major media outlets are announcing major layoffs, print cuts and hiring freezes. That’s a strong hit against veterans attempting to work in those industries, considering only 2% of media employees are veteran in spite of vets being 8% of the U.S. population. This requires a new breed of creatives. Many organizations such as NABJ and MVJ are training its members to be more business-minded as they become guns-for-hire. (We at Let’s Rethink This took note of this new environment and created Our Newspaper to ensure that its writers and contributors would have an assured outlet for their stories.)

This where Caron steps up. By way of podcasts, speaking engagements and cultivating a clientele of businesses clamoring to be noticed but unaware of how to present themselves as a news story, she serves as savant and consultant…and reaps the rewards.

“Profit is great for my complexion,” she cooes. “That I help my clients bring in more work and have greater success for themselves make it glow all the more.” 

Impact Journalism and ROI is the today’s journo’s new-new thing! Pay attention.

Let’s Rethink This Chooses Meta J Mereday as January’s “Impact Journalist”

Meta J Mereday is a Civilian First Responder, better known as a Domestic Warrior, with a family background rooted in the military with even deeper and even deeper roots in community, social and economic justice by way of advocating for veterans and other under-served constituencies. How best to bring attention to these diverse areas – and so much more – than to write about them to bring awareness and, ideally, positive change?

That predilection dates to grade school, where teachers were able to channel her creative talents and energy through writing and leading initiatives. They found they could keep her busy by supplying her with sufficient quantities of pencils and paper in addition to artistic and collaborative projects. She tutored students in her class and younger students and served as Office Assistant. This multifaceted formula continued during her years at Roosevelt Jr - Sr High School (Roosevelt, NY) where she mastered numerous activities including All County in Music, playing three musical instruments for Orchestra, Concert and Marching Bands and served as Sports Broadcaster and Editor for the Yearbook. She was named Class Speaker and Most Artistic.

 While pursuing her degree at San Jose State University’s (San Jose, CA) School of Journalism and Mass Communications, she continued to freelance and incorporate her creative talents to design photo layouts and promotional pieces for aspiring publishers and local business owners. There, she refined her writing and editing and graduated with a BA in Advertising and Speech Communication. Years later the school honored her in a blog profiling her work and community service. (Editor’s Note: SJSU is my Alma Mater)

“I am cause-activated,” she says. “Injustices motivate me.” Derogatory remarks by some NFL officials while she was attending a sports event motivated her to become a member of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and to be Co-Founder of the National Black Public Relations Society, Inc. Upon her return she returned to New York, she attended Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY) to add an MBA to her profile to add to her credentials and focus on economic empowerment to “raise all boats” to potentially equally levels.

Fast-forward to 2013

We have to get here quickly to get to today’s accomplishments, saving me from having to catalog past numerous heroic efforts (For example, she became known as a 9-11 Civilian First Responder and Front Line Media Correspondent during her volunteer service at Ground Zero immediately following the attacks on September 11, 2001 and reporting onsite to various media outlets including live for a television station in in Columbia, SC.). While advocating for diverse business inclusion for the rebuild of lower Manhattan and seeing the need to build up veteran-owned businesses to create jobs for unemployed veterans; she launched VEDI, Inc (Veteran Entrepreneurial Development Initiatives) as a New York State not-for-profit to address a growing need within the Veteran Owned Business and Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business (VOB/SDVOBs) for growth and development training. VEDI, Inc has become a national resource for veteran business development and veteran community advocacy.

VEDI, Inc is a task force member of the National Veterans Business Development Council whose mission is to increase the certifications for veteran-owned businesses and to help grow their operations and create jobs to reduce veteran unemployment.

Now, let’s get back to her journalism chops. Meta was recognized by the nonprofit Military Veterans in Journalism (MVJ) recently when they selected her to be included in their Expert Directory in recognition of her longstanding involvement in reporting on veterans issues and her advocacy for veterans and their families.

Lastly, Meta’s participation with the collaboration Veteran Mission Possible (VMP) is a story in itself. Like several other “Solution Providers” that found their way to our site, she made submisstions to an initiative launched by the VA entitled Mission Possible to see if she could secure a share of the $25M in grant funding. There were 1,370 competitors (VMP was one of them). She (and we) were not among the 40 chosen. However, when she discovered that VMP had started a community to give people “a second chance to make a first impression,” she came right to our doorstep. And, discovered that we were/are a key affiliate of MVJ. Having yet another opportunity to showcase her talents to uplift proactive solutions to combat the issues impacting our veterans and their families – and our nation as a whole – was right where she needed to be.

How could we not select her? 

“Navy veteran Tim Peña sat on the laminate wood flooring in his studio apartment for three days. There was no TV or radio, just his thoughts. He thought about how to clean up all the blood if he survived, or how his family would have to walk through it to collect his things if he succeeded. He thought about the veteran in his cellblock who had committed suicide a few days earlier by slipping the blade out of his razor…” from reporter Molly Bohannon: Is Arizona’s model for veteran suicide prevention the answer?

Most journalists report on the lives of others; Tim Peña lives a life that others report on.

He didn’t intend it to be that way. But by being someone else’s “story” he processed this experience to become the person on the other side of the notepad and microphone. This provides an unmatched authenticity to his reporting on veteran suicide, homelessness, and incarceration. 

He came close to experiencing the first, managed to survive the second, and speaks from a long history of being in and out of homelessness.

From written-up, to written-about, to written-by

The first firm writing step came about for Tim back in 2004 while living in Croatia where he published the first English-language business and tourism guide with distribution in Croatia and London in the Croatian Bureau of Tourism. Before then, he also designed and sold advertising for Arizona Directions - a new-student guide at the University of Arizona (1986-87), Key Magazine in Chicago, and for the Chicago Blues and Jazz Festival program guides (1993-95).

Upon his return from Croatia in 2006, Tim was arrested at JFK Airport for an outstanding warrant issued by Arizona for back-to-back DUI’s from 2002. After spending six weeks in Ryker’s Island and the Brooklyn Federal Correctional Center, he was ‘conaired’ to Arizona where he was sentenced to 4 ½ years in Arizona prison and released in 2009. In 2014, Tim was again arrested for DUI and a first-offense marijuana possession, and in 2016, found himself homeless and at MANA House, a veteran’s transitional program where he also served as the front desk clerk.

His time at MANA House (Marine, Army, Navy, Air Force) serving as a front desk clerk along with his background in publishing provided the time and space to write a comprehensive Veterans Incarceration/Suicide Index whitepaper that draws parallels between vet suicide and incarceration among veterans with service-connected disabilities such as PTSD, TBI and drug and alcohol addiction.

In 2018, Tim was sentenced to two years in Arizona prison for the marijuana possession and another four years on probation for the DUI. He created the Veterans Justice Project based on his incarceration experiences and those of veterans who were being denied access to Veterans Affairs with a program to ‘Bridge the Gap’ between the veteran and the VA. He credits MANA House for providing him, as a staff member, “access to individuals on the resident side (to interview) as well as all the research and resources I could hope for. I started the VISI in May/June 2016 and finished it up in early 2017.”

As he describes it, “MANA House supplied me the tools necessary to research and write the Veterans Incarceration/Suicide Index (VISI) which compares veteran population, incarceration, and suicide to an average ‘index’ for each state. My findings showed that states with more robust Veterans Treatment Courts had significant reductions in all three.”

Fast forward to 2022 and all too many disagreements and disputes with veteran services and Arizona authorities, he moved to New York City.

A new home as a writer – Military Veterans in Journalism

A series of articles that Tim has been writing for Our Newspaper called “Be The Story” caught the attention of Russell Midori, career journalist/videographer and co-founder of Military Veterans in Journalism. Following a personal introduction in NYC, Tim was invited to attend an MVJ meet in Washington DC. How did that come about so quickly?

“A journalist’s primary responsibility is to tell the truth,” Russell says. “My litmus test for a potential journalist is how willing he is to reveal truths about himself because those are the hardest truths to share. Tim is not afraid to share his experiences with physical and mental health, or even highly stigmatized topics like homelessness or incarceration. Authenticity is a journalist’s most powerful currency, so when I saw that in him, I knew he had great potential in this field.”

And the reason for inviting Tim to an MVJ conference in DC?

Russell continues, “Journalism is a tough field because you have to be polite enough to get an interview and rude enough to demand the truth. Most journalists have too much of one, and not enough of the other, but Tim embodies both these characteristics effortlessly,” and offers one more reason.

“Tim probably didn’t regard himself as a journalist for most of his life, but I think he’s just the kind of person needed to do this type of work. I really felt my early career MVJs needed to meet someone like him so they could observe that sweet spot between courtesy and entitlement, and maybe find that balance for themselves,” Russell ends. 

Much to his amazement (or amusement), Tim now finds himself cast as a role model. Which is what he is, and why we are honoring him this month.

(Military Veterans in Journalism is working with Let’s Rethink This to develop an onsite and online “media pool” of experienced professionals whose interviews and stories will support thenewly-launched Veteran Mission Possible campaign attacking the two evils of veteran suicide and veteran medical debt.)