journalism

Connie Swinney
Staff Writer •

Did you hear “the newslady” works for The Highlander again? How cliché!

It's such a cliché but there's no other way to describe it. I've come full circle. Twenty years ago, I wrote for the paper-of-record overlooking a lake in a charming little town nestled in the hills.

Now in 2018, I again work for the paper-of-record in a charming “little” town . . . er . . . but not so little anymore.

Because several thousand more people.

Because a hotel now blocks much of the lake view.

Because one big bridge over Lake Marble Falls has turned into two.

Not-to-mention more stop lights than you can shake a stick at.

I digress.

For those who have lived here all their lives or at least for the last couple of decades, you may recall my tour of duty as a staff writer with The Highlander in 1998 and 1999.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

Few journalists have credentials as impressive as NBC sportscasting legend Bob Costas, so when the 66-year-old New York native speaks about the current state of news media and sports — as he did Monday at the University of Texas at Austin — people listen.

Costas was at the Moody College of Communications' Belo Center for New Media to give the ninth annual Frank Deford Lecture in Sports Journalism to a capacity crowd of students, staff and the public. I was privileged to have the opportunity not only to attend the lecture, but to ask Costas a question of my own and to speak with him briefly afterwards.

Costas — the only person to have ever won Emmys in news, sports and entertainment — told UT students and staff that he was “impressed by the facilities, by the faculty members I've met and by the students I've met” during his visit to the Forty Acres.