
Jonathan has written dozens of articles on topics ranging from local history to personal health and safety to community events and activities to personality profiles. Some of these he wrote as a volunteer reporter/writer for The Scene, the monthly newspaper published by the Sunriver Owners Association of Sunriver, OR. Jonathan covered stories on water rate increases, business openings and anniversary celebrations, regional news and trends, club activities and community events. He also researched and wrote a series of in-depth articles on other destination resort communities - existing, under construction, and planned - that posed competition to Sunriver. This series was credited with persuading so many Sunriver owners of the need to improve community amenities that they passed a major increase in owner dues, including funding for a new $19 million aquatics and recreation facility.
Professionally, Jonathan has received compensation for articles written for a local medical practice, a tennis pro offering lessons and coaching. and a local non-profit association of volunteers promoting wildfire safety, water quality and fish habitat in the Deschutes River and wildlife protection. Often, these articles were written/edited to appear under someone else's name.
Project management, business data processing, military affairs, leadership, human resources, healthcare delivery.
History, politics and government, political philosophy and history, religion-theology-liturgy, science, military affairs, economics, medical affairs.
Jonathan attended UCSC for the first two years of this undergraduate studies. Assigned to Stevenson College, he completed three quarters of social science, art (drawing), and a variety of English literatures classes. He also belonged to the campus fencing club, competing in tournaments around Northern California.
While completing his BA in English Literature, Jonathan completed courses in American history (two quarters), introduction to economics (micro and macro), and film. However, his most rewarding experience was as a reporter and news editor for the California Aggie, a five-day per week student newspaper.
Jonathan completed programs in:
1. General business, including three quarters of Accounting, Business Management, Personnel Management, and Business Law.
2. Business data processing, including Introduction to Computing, programming languages (Fortran, COBOL, and IBM 370 Assembler), System Design, Data Processing Mathematics, and several quarters of hands-on coding in the school's computer laboratory.
Responding to questions about staffing at the local fire department, Jonathan volunteered to write for the fire chief a series of articles to appear in the community's monthly newspaper. The purpose of the series was to educate the public on the technical aspects of how a fire department works and how it is different from a typical business, and thereby elevate the public's understanding and opinion of its firefighters. Jonathan developed a proposed a year-long series of articles pertinent to the community. Article titles included:
Mutual Aid Agreements: What they are; how they work; why we need them
OR-OSHA 2-in/2-out Rule: its applications and implications
Staffing: Minimum staffing policy; the good, the bad, and the ugly
Structural Organization: Who does what
Wildland/Urban Interface Issues: Strategic approaches; defensible space
Training: What, why, where, and how
Public Education/Public Information: Functions and distinctions
Reserve Firefighter Program: Why we have it, how it works, what it costs; benefits of funding it
Department Of Public Safety & Training (DPSST): Purpose and functions; professional credentialing
Non-emergency functions of the fire department: What they are; who does them
Holiday safety challenges; cold weather concerns
For each article, Jonathan researched the topic from sources provided by the fire chief and found on the internet, and then interviewed the chief to get his professional perspective.
Jonathan has written dozens of articles on topics ranging from local history to personal health and safety to community events and activities to personality profiles. Some of these he wrote as a volunteer reporter/writer for The Scene, the monthly newspaper published by the Sunriver Owners Association of Sunriver, OR. Jonathan covered stories on water rate increases, business openings and anniversary celebrations, regional news and trends, club activities and community events. He also researched and wrote a series of in-depth articles on other destination resort communities - existing, under construction, and planned - that posed competition to Sunriver. This series was credited with persuading so many Sunriver owners of the need to improve community amenities that they passed a major increase in owner dues, including funding for a new $19 million aquatics and recreation facility.
Professionally, Jonathan has received compensation for articles written for a local medical practice, a tennis pro offering lessons and coaching. and a local non-profit association of volunteers promoting wildfire safety, water quality and fish habitat in the Deschutes River and wildlife protection. Often, these articles were written/edited to appear under someone else's name.
While most of Jonathan's writing experience has been on the writing/editing side of journalism, he has enjoyed a few opportunities to write press releases. When he works with clients, Jonathan focuses on two questions. First, what is the story (event, opening/anniversary, new product/service, etc.) the client wants to tell, especially what does the client want emphasized. Second, what are the important or key facts that give the story substance and interest. Jonathan helps the client craft quotes that make the story a personal communication from the client to the reader.
With all the material at hand, Jonathan writes a release that is easy for the publication reporter/editor to use verbatim or almost verbatim. This helps to ensure the client retains control over his/her message.
For about 12 years, Jonathan carried a column in The Scene, the monthly newspaper published by the Sunriver Owners Association of Sunriver, OR. While this writing was published as a column, it functioned like a newsletter. The column title was "In a Nutshell," and was designed to provide a newsletter-like collection of news - events and trends - from Central Oregon outside of Sunriver. The column typically consisted of several broad categories - Business Briefs (business news), Class Notes (news about local schools), Good Deeds (awards and people helping others), Govt. Goings On (government decisions and programs), plus the occasional standalone story.
Jonathan prepared IANS from press releases and news articles published in other Central Oregon newspapers, providing regional news that would be important or of interest to readers who live or own property in Sunriver, especially the non-resident owners who don’t have easy access to such information. The content ranged from serious, sometimes complex, heartwarming and humorous.