I am a writer, psychologist, and publisher of the popular weblog, BAGnewsNotes.

BAGnewsNotes is the only blog dedicated to how politicians and the media spin political pictures. Backed by a dedicated community of 50k readers a week, the mission of the site is to: reveal the propaganda, media bias or special interest agenda in each day’s leading news photos; to increase the visual literacy and political awareness of our progressive political readership; and most of all, speak truth to visual power.

The site also works like a daily seminar. Readers actively use the comment section to discuss and analyze every image. The site found its current focus during the 2004 Kerry/Bush election.

BAGnewsNotes has achieved strong credibility and distinction in the political blogosphere and is often referenced in university visual studies and communications programs. In 2006, BAGnewsNotes was a Webby Awards finalist for Best Political Blog (along with Huffington Post and Columbia Journalism Review). BAGnewsNotes was also awarded blogger credentials to cover the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Alan and Nina Berman are both contributors to the site.

My training has dealt primarily with the psychology of character, and my research encompasses symbolic expression, the process of visual narrative, and the psychological function of metaphor. I am a psychotherapist in private practice, and I was the consulting psychologist at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in L.A. Working at SCI-Arc, as well as other art and design programs, I’ve spent hundreds of hours involved in the analysis and critique of creative images. I also write a feature for the Huffington Post blog called “Reading The Pictures.”

We are currently expanding the site to include a original photojournalism section, as well as commentary by an expanded group of contributors.