Author Archives: Doug Cumming

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About Doug Cumming

Doug Cumming is an associate professor emeritus of journalism at Washington & Lee University with 26 years experience at metro newspapers and magazines. After getting a Ph.D. at UNC-Chapel Hill in mass communications, he taught multimedia reporting and feature writing at Loyola University-New Orleans and at W&L in Virginia. Earlier, he worked at the newspapers in Raleigh, Providence and Atlanta; was editor of the Sunday Magazine in Providence; and helped launch Southpoint monthly magazine in Atlanta. He won a George Polk Award and was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard.

Making the Past ‘Relatable’

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Doug Cumming

The digital/mobile ether that our undergraduates float in these days seems to make the historical past even less relevant than it used to be. Or less “relatable,” the word they use to replace “relevant.” (Check out the two words in … Continue reading →

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Journal-keeping in a Digital World

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Doug Cumming

Why, in this world of infinite choices and the great search-able eBay/Craigslist flea market, can’t I find the 6-ring notebook I’ve used since college for keeping a journal? It’s not as if iPhones and social media have abolished journal-keeping. Even … Continue reading →

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An Appreciation: Fred Farrar, 1918-2014

Posted on December 5, 2014 by Doug Cumming

Eleven years ago, our Development office told me that an alumnus who owned some historical newspapers wanted to donate them to Washington & Lee. Frederic B. Farrar was 85, a journalism major from W&L’s Class of ’41 who had served … Continue reading →

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Why Not Ask?

Posted on November 23, 2014 by Doug Cumming

Here’s a good question to ask any seasoned, serious journalist: What’s the best question to ask in an interview? It would be interesting to collect 10 or 20 of the best journalistic questions to keep handy in your toolbox. My … Continue reading →

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Election Night Live!

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Doug Cumming

The third floor of Reid Hall glowed in the dark on Election Night, Nov. 4. I had an inconspicuous job of copy-editing for Rockbridge Report’s election coverage, the only live TV broadcast and web report on the voting in Rockbridge … Continue reading →

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Halloween to the Max

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Doug Cumming

Happy Halloween, pagans and Christians all! It’s interesting to read our mashup culture in the costumes. (How do you dress up like a Republican-majority Senate?) Our son Daniel visited us last week, and spent his most creative hours working on … Continue reading →

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Church pledge as investment

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Doug Cumming

Here is the layman sermon on stewardship I was asked to give at R.E. Lee Memorial Church. Given Oct. 19. This is not an interruption in your regular programming. This is not like the two weeks of fund-raising that intrudes … Continue reading →

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Connecting intro and outre class experiences

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Doug Cumming

The course of study for majors in our department runs in a sequence designed to build on a foundation, layer by layer. In teaching the foundational JOUR201 Intro to News Writing, I’m now giving students exposure to what they will … Continue reading →

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“Mr.” R. E. Lee, Without the Flags

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Doug Cumming

The Confederate flags are now gone from around the recumbent marble Robert E. Lee, at eternal rest with his riding boots on in the innermost sanctuary of Lee Chapel. That is as it should be, for many reasons. One is … Continue reading →

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Outstanding in our fields

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Doug Cumming

Two photos from across the sea. One is by Life photographer Howard Sochurek (1924-94), of Frost in England in 1957. The other of me, in Le Marche region of Italy, in 2012, don’t know who took it.

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