An extravagant high school football stadium reminds us of journalism values overlooked since the pandemic

While interning at the Dallas Morning News sports desk this summer, I was surprised when I was assigned to drive over an hour outside of the city to Celina, Texas, to speak with Celina High School’s football coach, Bill Elliott … for a total of three minutes. In a post-COVID world, “face-to-face” gatherings became Zoom squares and even FaceTiming your mother from upstairs. Now, “in-person” is a social arrangement never assumed or prioritized. It must be explicitly requested, marking an event that cannot possibly be conducted virtually. As a Gen...