Dennis Foley's Page

Name (First and last would be great, nickname if you must):

Dennis Foley

Your media affiliation:

The Orange County Register

Best media moment:

Just being a journalist (since 1970).

Worst media moment:

Knocking on the doors of people who have just found out a loved one has died. I wish we'd let them grieve awhile without intruding, which we justify by making the dubious claim of "the public's right to know." What "right" is that? And doesn't a person's "right to be left alone" matter more?

Journalist you most respect, and why:

I can't single out one person as my hero, but respect the work of many journalists, locally and nationally.

Favorite publication, website, or blog:

I've been sampling magazines lately and am enjoying the thoughtful articles in The Atlantic and in Conde Nast Portfolio, as well as old favorites Archeology and The Smithsonian. I survey numerous websites about politics, the media and humor. I recommend cracked.com.

Advice you'd give to a college journalism student:

Get experience through internships; learn all the tools.

Current project:

This week (6/23) launched 44 high school interns on work they will do for the Register to earn academic credit from their schools. They're reporting for our newspapers and Web sites, including blogs. They're incoming juniors and seniors from 20 OC high schools (and one from Walnut).