Paul specializes in news stories that quickly get to the point. Readers who want to learn why their taxes are going up don't want to wade through fancy prose. But Paul also can write feature stories that give readers a glimpse into the human condition when that kind of story is appropriate. Paul's journalistic journey has included the government, school, emergency services and courts beats. He has a broad range of experiences that allows him to effectively navigate the waters of multiple topics.
Boxing has always had a special place in Paul's heart. He's never donned a pair of gloves -- beyond backyard scraps -- but has followed the sport closely since the late 1980s and considers himself a historian. Paul also loves travel and history. He researchs the places he visits so he has an understanding of the cultures, sites and people before he gets there.
Paul began college in 1990, knowing his future would involve the written word. In high school, teachers encouraged him to develop what appeared to be a natural gift. Now it was time to make those gifts gel into mature skills that would help him land a job in journalism. Paul chose for his education the University of Southern Indiana, a growing institution in Evansville where he learned from two professors whom he would remember years later as the most influential of his life. The classes were challenging but invigorating. He learned his way around computers, experimented with a budding new technology called the Internet, learned to develop 35 millimeter film in a dark room and honed his writing to pack as much information as possible into the fewest number of words. He graduated in four years and was ready to tackle the world.
The Republic newspaper's education beat provided Paul with a chance to change the primary focus of his reporting from the life and times of adults to the life and times of children. Certainly, the world of education has plenty of adults whose policy-making decisions affect our most valuable resource. Teachers, who by the way are also adults, play a huge role in what children will become. But the most important lesson Paul learned in covering education was that the news writer should never lose site that it's all about the kids.
Paul wrote news stories daily about city and county government. Topics ranged from taxes to bond issues to remonstrances. Many of the stories were written on deadline after returning from night meetings. That kind of fast turnaround requires an attentive ear and an ability to quickly understand complicated issues.
Paul's work in the newspaper industry occasionally has given him the opportunity to write columns, which allow more creative latitude. Among his subjects has been vacations to places like Disney World, the Kennedy Space Center and Mount Rushmore.
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