There is Something to Sharing Laughter and Grief
Arnold Rosenfeld, Editor-in-Chief / Cox Newspapers

Photograph by RICH ADDICKS / Atlanta Journal-Constitution

As Annie reminds us, it's a hard-knock life for print journalists these days. And deservedly so. Let's hope the day never comes when we're not held to high, even anguished standards.

An industry that for several generations has seen itself threatened by newer, ever more swift and compelling technologies, is now trying to come to grips with the newest and hottest menace, the Internet. Having survived the advent of telegraphy, radio and television, we are once again asking what makes print on paper valuable. Good question.

I'd suspect that the year 2000's Best of Cox competition provides a sort of answer. In these few pages, you will find writers speaking through a centuries-old technology about what it's like to watch rising floodwaters cover their beloved community, what it takes to protect abused children and how love once arrived via a message in a bottle. We see photos that share grief and joy, cartoons that both touch our hearts and make us laugh, stories that tell us what happens in a small town when the hunting season fails.

We are reminded that there is something to sharing laughter and grief — and thinking about things thoughtfully and in a straight line.