design news newspaper stuff work

Another batch of news designs

Don’t mind me, I’m just clicking and dragging and portfolioing. Shelby Farms: Urban oasis A story about the growth and change Shelby Farms is experiencing, accompanied by stunning photos.     Check out the story here, as well as Jim Weber’s beautiful photo gallery. In the shadows A follow-up to the shocking CA story about civil rights photographer Ernest Withers’ secret life as a FBI informant.     Check out part two of the Withers…

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design news newspaper stuff shameless self-promotion work

‘I’M AL QAEDA’ design

The CA, for a few months now, has been receiving letters from self-identified jihadist Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad as he spends time in prison for his part in the death of one soldier and the injury of another at a military recruiting center in Little Rock. This past Sunday, we printed some excerpts of those letters, in which Muhammad describes his purpose and what he sees as an all-out war on Uncle Sam by those Muslims…

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I’m getting verklempt

Can you just imagine: Being deep inside the earth and learning that your way out had failed, thinking you were going to die down there in the darkness while the usable air just disappeared all around you, and then, to the amazement and delight of the entire world, one day being brought to the surface to see your friends and family again? To get that kind of second chance?

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news those crazy Christians

I will never be able to understand this depth of hatred

On the drive in to work today I had my dial tuned to American Family Radio. It’s an addiction, don’t judge me. “Focal Point with Bryan Fischer” is the show that’s usually on when I head to work (except for on Saturdays, when it’s “Down Gilead Lane,” which I LOVE SO FUCKING MUCH IT’S GROSS), and today they were apparently discussing the recent spate of young gay people killing themselves. A caller said of Rutgers…

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design news newspaper stuff work

‘America hasn’t forgotten’

More news designs to share! This small but fun package ran this past Sunday in Viewpoint. The story –which is a great read and might make you tear up a little or, ahem, a lot — is here.  

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The exposure of Ernest Withers

The CA broke a pretty fascinating story on Sunday: Ernest Withers, the iconic civil rights photographer, was a paid FBI informant. It’s almost too crazy to contemplate, but most history is, if you think about it. I was lucky enough to get to do the print layout, although that meant that I had to sit on such a crazy story for a few weeks. That’s nothing compared to Marc Perrusquia’s having to keep mum about…

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news

Hey, a rant! About social media marketers! And newspapers!

So we’re having a little fun over on Twitter parodying Chris Brogan’s Memphis visit with the #fakebrogan hashtag. It came about because my friend Leslie mentioned being annoyed by all the Brogan tweets and retweets that were flooding her timeline thanks to this Brogan dude being in town and presenting to a bunch of marketing/PR people who were listening to him and tweeting (and retweeting and reretweeting) his soundbytes. I’m not trying to be a…

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Nashville news the family yardlust

Handling

Mom, dad, and the nephews came down Sunday and we went to a Redbirds game. We were among a dozen or so people in attendance on what turned out to be a lovely evening. I am exaggerating. There had to be thirty people there. It felt nice to show off the park and even nicer that the Redbirds won. Going to those games is bittersweet; it’s always fun but when I go, I see how…

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news newspaper stuff racism

Old news

When my friends Brandon and Amanda moved into their new apartment, they came upon an April 4, 1950, issue of The Commercial Appeal, and they were kind enough to let me get my grubby paws on it. The thing is quite yellowed and brittle, and has a tendency to shed bits of itself as you flip carefully from page to page. It’s fascinating stuff; the pages are absolutely chock full of tiny briefs and stories…

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news

Fringe

On my way to work today, I listened to a few minutes of Focal Point, one of the several highly entertaining but generally batshit insane programs that air on AFR every day, and I happened to catch host Bryan Fischer indulging some angry callers in their anti-gay rants regarding the Mississippi high-school student whose prom was canceled because she wanted to attend with her female partner and her school said NUH UH and took their…

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