This shot is from standing just off the quad on the Samford campus, which is probably humming with people throwing frisbees whenever you read this. It doesn’t really matter when you read this. Frisbees are being thrown.
Anyway, I’m lucky enough to go in this building to work every day:
My office is on the third floor, and off the left side of the photograph.
Or, if you’re reading it at night, there is a small chance that some of the students are trying their luck wading through one of the fountains without getting caught. There are differing opinions on the challenge involved with that.
Samford is a great place, a happy place. I think I’ve met one person there who was not smiling. This is my fifth year on campus. That’s a pretty good ratio.
Oh, I’m sure some students have less than happy moments. Most people don’t like tests, or last minute projects.
Which is why I’m working long and hard on tomorrow’s lecture topic: Headlines. Everybody loves them, until they have to write them.
Occasionally I take a break from writing this stuff and pulling examples, surfing some of the best newspaper design across the country that landed on doorsteps this morning. (It is difficult to provide a good example on question marks in headlines, for example.) When I do push back from this PowerPoint there are two or three other tasks demanding attention.
Emails to write, letters to compose, numbers to crunch.
Living the Monday dream, friends.
Sad to learn of Paul Davis’ death. He was one of those strong regional voices of journalism. He helped launch a lot of careers. And those careers served communities and inspired others.
He knew the value and he taught a lot of us about it too.
It is too bad we only really contemplate that connectedness at the end. In the end that connectedness is what we hold on to.
The second most important headline of the day: AP promises members it won’t break news on social media. Everyone else will.
There are different audiences here, of course. AP sells news to media companies who sell the news to the general public. But the public, of course, have ways of seeking out the information they want. They’re often using Facebook, Google Plus and Twitter for their own wires.
And, sometimes, with poorly written, unhappy headlines.
