The Thrill of the Scoop

Some of the most enjoyable times of my life were those I spent working on my college newspaper. In those days, issues came out twice a week, tabloid size, anywhere from 32 to 64 pages an issue. The Student Press was quite an undertaking, considering it was produced totally by students who stayed up all night twice a week to make sure the issue got done. Then, as the sun came up, we’d draw straws to see who would drive it the 90 miles to the printer. This practice continued until one of the editors nearly feel asleep behind the wheel on the way back and we decided to hire a driver—who was henceforth listed in the masthead as “chauffeur.”

Being at the university and working at the newspaper was the most fun I ever had in my life. You might think I’d be bittersweet about it now and long for those times again, but I don’t. That’s probably because I enjoy working for USGlass quite a bit, and also because I knew what I gift I’d been given when I had it.

Anyway, I digress. At the newspaper, I worked with a lot of talented award-winning young people who went on to write for the New York Times, USA Today, the Boston Globe, Gannett News Service, Forbes, Rolling Stone—you get the idea. I still enjoy reading their bylines and seeing their names on the wires.

So I had to smile when I saw this story yesterday written by Jill Coffey, night editor of the New York Daily News. Jill might have learned how to be a night news editor by working all those late nights at our student paper, but she became part of a story earlier this week when a yet a third person decided to climb up the exterior of the New York Times building.

So THIS is how the News scooped the Times on a story about the Times own building, which I know Jill absolutely loved and HERE is how they are going to fix it. Yet again, it’s always about the glass.


P.S.: Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve checked in, but truth is, this is my slow travel time. I enjoyed a July with very few trips in it but I am getting ready to get back on the road this week.