The Washington Post Writers Group 'Groupblog': "Welcome, Esther J. Cepeda"

posted to the Groupblog on Tuesday, October 12, 2010...

 

Welcome, Esther J. Cepeda
Posted by James Hill on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010

　

One of my weekly tasks here at The Writers Group is to go through a stack of manuscripts gathering in the in-box, looking for potential talent that could join our lineup of award-winning columnists.

On occasion, I'll write a personal letter asking the writer to submit more material. Other times I explain why a proposed column wouldn't be a good fit, and suggest the writer try another, more general-purpose syndicate than The Writers Group, which lives off of Washington's bread and butter -- politics and policy.

Yet a couple of years ago after reading a package of clips submitted by Esther J. Cepeda, I picked up the phone. Cepeda was one of several journalists let go in a round of cost-cutting at the Chicago Sun-Times, and I first wanted to know if she had other work lined up (she did). Then, because she was going to be employed by the state of Illinois, I wanted to know what she was going to do about her writing career. That's when I discovered that losing a newspaper job wasn't going to stop Esther Cepeda.

She had a lot of ideas she was going to pursue, including a blog to be called 600 Words, a weekly collection of her thoughts and comments, and she also hoped to place a column somewhere (she did, in the Sun-Times no less, in 2009).

I wished her good luck and said we would keep an eye on her work. We did, which was not too difficult since Cepeda added me to her e-mail list to receive the 600 Words blog each Thursday. I also began to notice links to it on various websites.

This past summer, editorial director Alan Shearer and I were thinking out loud about everything in general and new columnists in particular. We wondered if it wasn't time to approach Cepeda and see if she thought she was ready to write for a nationwide audience.

Don't need to tell you how long it took for that e-mail to come back.

Cepeda was already in the process of leaving her state job to devote full time to writing, and was eager for the chance to possibly join The Writers Group. But wanting to write a column twice a week and actually doing it are two very different things, so we asked her if she would be willing to go through an audition, in which she would file on deadline, we would edit and make suggestions, then clear changes with her (the same steps all of our columnists go through before publication).

During this trial period, Cepeda showed us that she could deliver columns on breaking news, hot-issue subjects such as education, and pieces that focused on the offbeat and the unpredictable. She was also a joy to work with.

One Sunday in August, Shearer visited Cepeda at a Starbucks outside Chicago and offered her a contract. Her column makes its debut next week and I, for one, think Cepeda can be a game-changer much as Ellen Goodman was when her column first went into national syndication back in the 1970s.

Esther is the daughter of immigrants (from Ecuador and Mexico) who took blue-collar jobs to raise their family with the hope for a better life. Her first language was Spanish, yet she self-taught herself English by watching "Sesame Street" and looking at the many newspapers her parents kept around the house.

Cepeda is a journalism graduate of Southern Illinois University, and has taken graduate courses at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, where she studied in the Integrated Marketing Communications program. She also spent two years as a public school teacher, and holds a master's degree in education.

In everything she has done, Esther J. Cepeda exemplifies the American experience. She's got a great story to share with her readers, and I think she'll make quite the contribution -- in ways that surprise you -- to the great American debate. We're excited. Welcome aboard, Esther.

James Hill is managing editor of The Washington Post Writers Group

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The Washingon Post Writer's Group includes George F. Will, David Broder, Richard Cohen, Michael Gerson, David Ignatius, Charles Krauthammer,  Dana Milbank, Ruben Navarette, Fareed Zakaria, Kathleen Parker, and Eugene Robinson, among others.

 

Richard Prince's "Journal-isms" blog featured Esther this week http://mije.org/node/1252/cepeda

Comments

[Ramon Cepeda]

Esther is an excellent writer and now a whole new audience will be able to appreciate her.

[Spencer]

CONGRATULATIONS! MUY BUENO! BRAVO! With that said, will you still be writing columns for the Sun Times, or is the Washington Post a full-time gig (Chicago's loss, DC's gain)?

[Apps 55753818692 1392902912 290e5c7e18eda7ffd03826e974277cc1]

You go girl! You make me proud to be a hispanic female. I wish you nothing but the best.

[Esther J Cepeda]

Thank you very much, I really appreciate your kind words!

And don't worry, I'm not physically going anywhere- I'll be here in Chicago. And I'll still be writing my Monday column for the Chicago Sun-Times, too.

[Robert D. (Bob) Flinn]

Good morning, Esther. What great news. You may recognize that I've been a fan of yours since your original stint with the Sun-Times and lamented your loss when they let you go. Congratulations! That's fancy company you're joining, and deservedly so. As is said in other pursuits, "break a leg." Bob Flinn

[Esther J Cepeda]

Thanks so much Bob, your constant support and encouragement keeps me going! Thanks for reading!

[P. S. VANGELLOW]

RE- EDITORIAL, 1/12/2011, RE TEACHERS.
EXPLAIN, WHY 3.5 MILLION TEACHERS CAN'T VOICE OR SHOW THEIR STRENGTH AGAINST THE UNIONS?
IS THIS A REPUBLIC OR WHAT?
pvangellow@twcny.rr.com

[Randy Crawford]

If abortion is a small part of what Planned Parenthood does, they won't have any trouble discontinuing abortion immediately. And, if they are really pro-choice, they can start choosing themselves to see what abortion really is, like their employee Abby Johnson witnessed for herself. Actually, each abortion costs them about $10 to do (cheap throwaway tubing, gown, and gloves bought in bulk; and surgical equipment re-used thousands of times for a cheap per-abortion cost). So when they charge hundreds of dollars for each abortion, multiplied by hundreds of thousands of baby-butcherings each year, that is where they get plenty of money to buy off crooked politicians and conniving journalists to propagate their propaganda. Such a deal!! Even Hit1er did his mass slaughter for free. In the real world and beyond Planned Parenthood's extensive lie campaign, abortion is their gigantic source of money to pay lucrative salaries and buy political votes and hire propaganda puppets. That's the real reason Planned Parenthood has assigned their flunkies in the U.S. Congress to shut down the government-- unless their selfish Premeditated Murderhood temper tantrums are soothed with your tax money and mine. Abortionists who slaughter innocent babies with alacrity aren't hesitating an instant to hold the country hostage to their murderous greed, and blackmail their way into your pocket even more than they have already.
If abortion is a small part of what Planned Parenthood does, they won't have any trouble discontinuing abortion immediately. And, if they are really pro-choice, they can start choosing themselves to see what abortion really is, like their employee Abby Johnson witnessed for herself. Actually, each abortion costs them about $10 to do (cheap throwaway tubing, gown, and gloves bought in bulk; and surgical equipment re-used thousands of times for a cheap per-abortion cost). So when they charge hundreds of dollars for each abortion, multiplied by hundreds of thousands of baby-butcherings each year, that is where they get plenty of money to buy off crooked politicians and conniving journalists to propagate their propaganda. Such a deal!! Even Hit1er did his mass slaughter for free. In the real world and beyond Planned Parenthood's extensive lie campaign, abortion is their gigantic source of money to pay lucrative salaries and buy political votes and hire propaganda puppets. That's the real reason Planned Parenthood has assigned their hirelings in the U.S. down the government-- unless their selfish Premeditated Murderhood temper tantrums are soothed with your tax money and mine. Abortionists who slaughter innocent babies with alacrity aren't hesitating an instant to hold the country hostage to their murderous greed, and blackmail their way into your pocket even more than they have already.
Save edit

[sophie]

If abortion is a small part of what Planned Parenthood does, they won't have any trouble discontinuing abortion immediately. And, if they are really pro-choice, they can start choosing themselves to see what abortion really is, like their employee Abby Johnson witnessed for herself. Actually, each abortion costs them about $10 to do (cheap throwaway tubing, gown, and gloves bought in bulk; and surgical equipment re-used thousands of times for a cheap per-abortion cost). So when they charge hundreds of dollars for each abortion, multiplied by hundreds of thousands of baby-butcherings each year, that is where they get plenty of money to buy off crooked politicians and conniving journalists to propagate their propaganda. Such a deal!! Even Hit1er did his mass slaughter for free. In the real world and beyond Planned Parenthood's extensive lie campaign, abortion is their gigantic source of money to pay lucrative salaries and buy political votes and hire propaganda puppets

[allen]

hey won't have any trouble discontinuing abortion immediately. And, if they are really pro-choice, they can start choosing themselves to see what abortion really is, like their employee Abby Johnson witnessed for herself. Actually, each abortion costs them about $10 to do (cheap throwaway tubing, gown, and gloves bought in bulk; and surgical equipment re-used thousands of times for a cheap per-abortion cost). So when they charge hundreds of dollars for each abortion, multiplied by hundreds of thousands of baby-butcherings each year, that is where they get plenty of money to buy off crooked politicians and conniving journalists to propagate their propaganda. Such a deal!! Even Hit1er did his mass slaughter for free. In the real world and beyond Planned Parenthood's extensive lie campaign, abortion is their gigantic source of money to pay lucrative salaries and buy political votes and hire propaganda puppets. That's the real reason Planned Parenthood has assigned their hirelings in the U.S. down the government-- unless their selfish Premeditated Murderhood temper tantrums are soothed with your tax money and mine. Abortionists who slaughter innocent babies with alacrity aren't hesitating an instant to hold the country hostage to their murderous greed, and blackmail their way into your pocket even more than they have already.

[freelance writer]

It is so exciting!

[menglishuo]

One such case was by airlines against consumer-facing frequent flyer program information aggregation and optimization services.

[zhutige]

he greeting card is a good idea too.

[freelance writing]

It’s no secret that many people get short circuited and lose their drive in becoming productive and creative because of getting burnt out with their day jobs.

[essay]

My birthday is in a few weeks, and I've given myself the gift of a new apartment. I don't need to move at all, but I certainly needed some "disrupting," some shaking things up. Even though I am moving only a few blocks away, my new space is quite different from my current apartment of 5 years. The place I live - it's "feel" - has a big impact of my psyche, so it will be interesting to see what other changes this little change will bring.

[custom essay]

My birthday is in a few weeks, and I've given myself the gift of a new apartment. I don't need to move at all, but I certainly needed some "disrupting," some shaking things up. Even though I am moving only a few blocks away, my new space is quite different from my current apartment of 5 years. The place I live - it's "feel" - has a big impact of my psyche, so it will be interesting to see what other changes this little change will bring.

[luckboy]

The greeting card is a good idea too. Something you can do yourself.

[peime]

The greeting card is a good idea too. Something you can do yourself.

[lovesimple]

he greeting card is a good idea too. Something you can do yourself.

[kangqi]

he greeting card is a good idea too. Something you can do yourself.