TAYLOR — A veteran advertising leader has joined Granite Media Partners Inc. as the new vice president of sales and marketing.

Shawn Burrell, a Texas native, started Sept. 5 and will be based at the 45-year-old company’s home office near Austin.

Fair warning: Get ready for some major geekage.

We’ve all seen the embarrassing example of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-produced copy in a recent large company sports section. This is what was published (since corrected):

“The Worthington Christian [[WINNING_TEAM_MASCOT]] defeated the Westerville North [[LOSING_TEAM_MASCOT]] 2-1 in an Ohio boys soccer game on Saturday.”

Would you like for your newspaper photos to be more engaging and perhaps tell more of a story? If you missed the “Visual Storytelling for Newspaper Photography” session at the TPA summer convention, presented by Russell Viers, you have another opportunity to see it. Or maybe you saw it and you want your staff sit in.

By KEN ESTEN COOKE, 2023-24 TPA President

“Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of America. Rich, poor, Panhandle, Gulf, city, country, Texas is the obsession, the proper study, and the passionate possession of all Texans.”

– John Steinbeck

With nearly two years until the next legislative session, opponents of Texas’ anti-SLAPP statute have already announced they will try again in 2025 to roll back important protections in the law.

Attracting and keeping top talent can be difficult today. AffinityChoice, a new employee benefit group insurance program, is designed to help TPA members meet that challenge.

Eligible employees of participating members are offered a menu of voluntary group employee benefit coverages including life, dental, vision and short-term disability insurance.