DAPHNE, Ala.— Thomas Boni—editor of the Daphne Bulletin and Spanish Fort Sun—will speak at Jubilee Mornings 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Daphne Public Library community room. Admission is free and Friends of the Daphne Public Library will serve refreshments.

The theme of Boni’s presentation is “Life inside the office of a community newspaper”; he plans to speak on various aspects of the newspaper industry including publishing, accuracy and ethics.

“During Wednesday’s presentation, I’ll tell people about life at the editor’s desk of a community newspaper—a general rundown of the steps it takes to put out a paper three times a week (the twice-weekly  Bulletin and weekly Sun), among other duties—but we’ll also touch on broader issues, such as journalists’ ethics, media conglomeration and media law,” Boni said.

Having a fond enthusiasm for media law—he said he studies it every weekend, and pays close attention to legal developments in the news—Boni feels that accuracy and ethics are important factors for professional communicators.

“The Bulletin is Daphne’s official newspaper of record; it’s the paper of general circulation in which to see legal notices for our area,” Boni said. “Therefore, we report straight-down-the-line, evenhanded information because, being the paper of record, we should do no less.”

An upside of work, besides learning about the issues of interest, and meeting newsmakers, he said, is reviewing the newspaper after it publishes—having crossed his fingers there were no mistakes—and realizing the last publication was flawless.

“After all, in newspapers, you’re only as good as your last edition, and community newspapers, to advertising’s credit, have greater coffee table—or shelf—life (than, for instance, a daily publication),” Boni said. “But for the editorial department, that means an error, however slight, will live on until the next paper comes out.”

Though he said he enjoys his job, a downside of managing two newspapers is the amount of e-mails that flow in, according to Boni, who said the volume of e-mail isn’t proportionate to the two newspapers’ coverage areas.

“The Bulletin-Sun editor’s email box receives hundreds of messages each day, and though many are useful for our community coverage, most seem to come from, and are about, cities and states that we just don’t cover,” he said.

Boni said he realizes the importance of reporting on local events affecting his readership, rather than spotlighting national issues that receive plenty of coverage from broadcast and Web media.

“As Jock Lauterer said in his book, ‘Community Journalism,’ we’re ‘relentlessly local’,” Boni said. “That means we care about what goes on in Baldwin County—and more specifically, Daphne, Belforest, Malbis and Spanish Fort.

“Martians could hold a press conference in Texas and it wouldn’t receive a blurb in the Bulletin or Sun.”

Boni has worked at Gulf Coast Newspapers for three years, first as a reporter at the Bulletin and now, as editor of both newspapers. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications at Spring Hill College and graduated from McGill-Toolen High School.

“Having taken journalism courses in college, and receiving Spring Hill’s Catholic Press Award, I thought I’d hit the ground running,” Boni said. “But though I had the fundamentals—style, spelling and grammar skills—you really don’t understand newspapering until you’re there, working in a real newsroom.”

Boni said a journalism career helped him to better understand county and city government, politics in general, the police department’s various duties and the issues people care about.

“Wheelchair-accessible playgrounds, the sacrifice of service to one’s country, personal stances on high-rise developments and growth’s impact on the environment—these are the issues that matter,” he said. “Bringing their awareness—creating the public record—leaves a sense of contribution and fulfillment.”

“We at Daphne Library are delighted to host Mr. Boni for our Jubilee Mornings series,” Anne Morris, reference librarian, said. “We’re looking forward to his viewpoint as a professional journalist who is one of the Eastern Shore’s own.

“It’s really important that he’ll be our speaker during election season at this time of great civic engagement.”

“It’s an honor to be Jubilee Mornings’ guest speaker,” Boni said. “Already some people have sent letters expressing anticipation of the presentation.

“I thank them, and the library, for their interest in our newspapers.”