@frankcatalano.bsky.social
Author. Journalist. Former edtech industry CMO & advisor. Onetime broadcaster and science-fiction writer. Based in Northwest Washington state. Posts here mostly about writing and journalism. Newest words: https://authory.com/frankcatalano
Anthropic copyright settlement claim filed. One book in the database: Starting & Running a Business All-in-One for Dummies.
Based on Internet Marketing for Dummies. And others, by others.
If there's a payout, it'll be tiny. So. Many. Authors. But worth doing.
Huge deal. Taylor is/was core to GeekWire. I enjoyed working with him and watching his professional growth (yeah, I'm older) when I was a columnist and then tipster.
I know Todd, John and the team will keep GeekWire the top-notch tech #journalism source it is. And I wish Taylor the best.
Personal memory jog: This week marks the 100th birthday of #scifi mag Amazing Stories. I was one of its two book review columnists for several years in the 1980s.
It's survived and had several well-known editors (Hugo Gernsback first; mine, George Scithers). 100! amazingstories.com/2026/03/happ...
"...The report lays out a compelling case that there has been a massive loss of organic traffic across tech #journalism in just the past two years ... It can’t prove causation, but does speculate the roll out of Google’s AI Overviews is contributing to the decline." www.niemanlab.org/2026/03/traf...
I'm rather enjoying now being one of many contributors to — and not the sole author of — the latest iteration of @cascadiadaily.com's popular Business Briefs.
Bonus: It allows me to play the "guess what I wrote?" game.
(Spoiler: It's usually the most boring stuff.)
Fusion energy. Sustainable aviation fuel. Ocean monitoring.
All in a shared workspace and tech startup lab tucked into a forested area of Skagit County, WA from the Northwest Innovation Resource Center.
My first Business Matters newsletter for @cascadiadaily.com, available to subscribers today.
It's a doubly auspicious day for @cascadiadaily.com: the first subscriber-only newsletter (this regular one from Exec Editor @ronjudd.bsky.social looks Inside CDN) and the fourth Cascadia Daily News print anniversary.
More focused newsletters, and more hyper-local coverage, ahead for Northwest WA.
Jam-packed, group-effort Business Briefs from @cascadiadaily.com staff for the third week in a row. Pizza! Japanese! Gardens! Beer! Piroshky! Coffee! Plus ... a bank.
Catch up on Northwest Washington #business news in one carefully balanced recipe. www.cascadiadaily.com/2026/feb/26/...
And this is largely why I — and many other writers & journalists — gave up on Twitter/X after investing years into the platform.
John Oliver has the (entertainingly delivered) receipts.
Once a social media platform is enshittified, it's hard to unshittify. youtu.be/p7ZG_xWYLzI?...
More detail of the half-dozen subscriber-only newsletters from @cascadiadaily.com starting next month: health care, education, prep sports, arts & entertainment, business and the CDN newsroom behind the scenes.
And we'll be a bit more personal there, too. www.cascadiadaily.com/2026/feb/22/...
Status as of Sunday, February 22, for this non-Smart Brick build.
In which my current AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) interest intersects with both science fiction and tech for item 9 ....
At least the model I'm currently building is more than half complete, based on the number of bags of bricks, save for the remaining signature saucer section.
Fine weekend feature by CDN's @jayaflanary.bsky.social about #audiobooks, why many consider them "reading," AI's verbal limitations and how a human Bellingham narrator works.
Really gets you inside the process, as a reader or writer. www.cascadiadaily.com/2026/feb/21/...
A new Business Briefs in CDN, the second this month. Good to see it.
A group effort, too. Many Cascadia Daily News staff provided tips and items, plus a certain contributor. The whole resulting from the sum of the parts? Quite great. www.cascadiadaily.com/2026/feb/19/...
Anyone who has ever used a computer to create a publication owes a debt of gratitude to Paul Brainerd, #journalism graduate, founder of Aldus and creator of PageMaker. He coined the term "desktop publishing."
He died this week. I'm glad I met him, years ago. www.geekwire.com/2026/pagemak...
Fighting teen media illiteracy with classroom instruction and student newspapers, in light of findings that 84% describe news media as "biased," "boring" or "bad" — and 94% think news or media literacy should be part of their education. www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/teen...
On defining "the press" for Washington state's capitol: “It is important that a line be established between professional #journalism and political or policy work. The press should act as an independent observer and monitor of the proceedings, not as an involved party.” www.cjr.org/feature/olym...
"It’s safe to say I didn’t 'retire' well. I kept seeing business changes in Whatcom & Skagit counties that I had no place to tell others about, beyond sending the CDN newsroom a brief heads up. (OK, a LOT of brief heads ups.)"
Why I'm back at Cascadia Daily News. talkingbiznews.com/media-news/c...
You might say the Cat(alano) is out of the bag: Ron Judd's announcement this morning, in his weekly Sunday email intro, of a new slate of Cascadia Daily News newsletters for subscribers.
Mine will start in March.
Yup. I'm baaaaaaack.
From AI-knowing editor Tony Wan, a caution on use: "The writing looks finished, but I find myself wondering whether the thinking underneath is as well. AI writing sounds confident, so it can make the writer sound confident and tempt me to trust that confidence."
tonywan.substack.com/p/when-dirty...
Time for a new headshot.
To go with a new, regular business #journalism gig.
Details next week about what, when and where. It'll be fun and have some, well, personality to go with the facts and analysis. I still have personality to spare.
Sad to see the continued dismemberment of the once-proud Pacific Science Center in Seattle. I was a longtime member, wrote about it often for GeekWire, and even was married under its arches.
Goodbye Boeing IMAX, plus formerly dino-filled Building 1. www.thestranger.com/film/2026/02...
“This year’s theme feels built for CDN. Startups like ours are vulnerable — but we may also be the antidote to an ailing industry,” Anderson said. #journalism
It may be four years old, but CDN still feels and runs like an energetic startup. This is a good job. #journalism
A new month, a new scammy #writing email.
This book exists. But the true author is "Francis" Catalano of Quebec, not Frank. Seems an English translation from French.
I bet the "feedback" would suggest more help. For a fee.
At least the AI is honest. Giving the sender's last name as "Marketer."
Gotta admit, it's nice to be in print in Cascadia Daily News again, even as a commentary "guest writer." Page A4 today. (Of course, it's still free to read, outside the paywall, on the CDN website. But paper makes it feel more real.)
40 years ago today, I was a young radio news anchor and Journalist in Space program hopeful. Challenger happened. I won't forget my shock and sadness, even as I anchored our coverage.
GeekWire's @b0yle.bsky.social gathered memories for the 30th, worth re-reading. www.geekwire.com/2016/30-year...
In year one of President Trump’s second term, international tourists had second thoughts about coming to the U.S. In year two, guest writer Frank Catalano suspects, the reverse will become more apparent — U.S. citizens will increasingly avoid pleasure travel abroad.
I've never canceled a long-planned European vacation before. But this month, I did.
So I've written about how belittling and threatening countries affects #tourism, both into the US and now heading out, in a @cascadiadaily.com guest commentary (free to read). www.cascadiadaily.com/2026/jan/26/...
Useful explainer for non-journalists and #journalists alike: Know your rights ahead of taking part in (or covering) immigration protests.
From @cascadiadaily.com, in front of the paywall. www.cascadiadaily.com/2026/jan/25/...