Ben Orner

assistant editor @roanoketimes // student newspaper advisor @roanokecollege // shareholder @sskroughriders

[Ben Orner @Ben_Orner]

Some film shots from the Blue Ridge Parkway this weekend between Afton and Buena Vista, Virginia.

🎞️Kodak UltraMax 400
📍@BlueRidgeNPS

[Sam Mostow @bySamMostow]

After 123 years, The Collegiate Times is ending its print edition. It’ll still be around digitally — so don’t worry, we aren’t going anywhere!

The staff put together a Goodbye Print issue, where we reflected back on those 123 years. Grab a copy in newsstands around Blacksburg.

[Damien Sordelett @DamienSordelett]

Two weeks after Tim Sands announced he will soon be leaving as the #Hokies president, Whit Babcock announced his retirement effective June 30.

On Babcock's 12-plus year tenure and the legacy he's leaving behind.

https://t.co/wEjitmfVQE

[The Roanoke Times @roanoketimes]

Virginia Democrats made a national statement on Tuesday with a narrow victory in a voter referendum on a constitutional amendment to redraw congressional maps before midterm elections in November. https://t.co/E7prBEFKro

[Mark Berman @BermanRoanoke]

On the front page of Sunday paper and online now: Skydiver crashes into Lane Stadium video board and needs to be rescued after his parachute got caught on the top of the board. The ground safety specialist from the skydiving team discusses what happened. https://t.co/01sJxig0tt

[Semafor @semafor]

The oldest job in journalism: New York Post ‘runners’ defy AI

https://t.co/qm8HdXrGF7

[Cara C⚾️🐻per @caramariecooper]

Hi! I wrote a cool story if you'd like to read it!

In 2019, late model legend Lee Pulliam abruptly retired. But after returning last year, Pulliam caught the attention of Dale Earnhardt Jr. who offered him his first NASCAR ride at Martinsville Speedway.

https://t.co/xSpyLes4zA

[Scott MacFarlane @MacFarlaneNews]

The demise of any radio legend…. is the demise of an irreplaceable fine artist

[CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 @CBSSunday]

"All the Empty Rooms" has won the #Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film.

The documentary follows CBS News’ @SteveHartmanCBS and photographer Lou Bopp as they meet the parents of school shooting victims, who open their doors and share what it’s like to live alongside their children’s bedrooms, left just as they were. Directed by @JSeftel, the short film was originally featured on CBS Sunday Morning in November 2024.

[The Commonwealth Times @theCT]

There have been no reports of injuries among VCUarts Qatar students, faculty, or staff, according to VCU spokesperson Michael Porter. 

https://t.co/o9K2xQsvlB

[Ben Orner @Ben_Orner]

Had some fun with today's Franklin News-Post using some great @Braves spring training photos from the AP

[Ben Orner @Ben_Orner]

Joey Raccuia, a freshman on the Radford Highlanders baseball team and son of former coach Joe Raccuia, died today in a crash in Radford. He was 19. https://t.co/6o58CTDbh9

[The Roanoke Times @roanoketimes]

Reduced funding and rising costs have combined to create a $16.5 million budget shortfall heading into the upcoming fiscal year, school staff said during a meeting Tuesday night. https://t.co/zatj9NYroZ

[The Roanoke Times @roanoketimes]

“I cannot stress enough that this has the potential to be a serious winter weather event," said Jason Bond, a VDOT spokesperson. https://t.co/x4rzBopzuL

[Scott Nover @ScottNover]

Delicious prose from @ChuckCulpepper1 on Indiana's triumph. https://t.co/TJCvKfq6rv

[Ben Orner @Ben_Orner]

Agreed. Folks in comments seem to think traditional reporting ethics don't apply to sports -- but sports journalism is journalism all the same.

Quick congrats is maybe OK, but 20 secs of it (including the team chant?!) is "bias" that readers supposedly say they hate from media.

[Brooke Pryor @bepryor]

look, it’s a kind sentiment, but it’s not the job of a reporter to console a coach in a postgame press conference.

Pressers are to ask questions to gain a better understanding of what happened or figure out what’s next — and do it in a limited amount of time.

[Scott Nover @ScottNover]

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is shutting down.

[Ben Orner @Ben_Orner]

The Roanoke Times' parent company, Lee Enterprises, is getting a new chairman, a Florida billionaire named David Hoffmann who is leading a $50M investment. https://t.co/uyTKYjNmbm

[Peter Hamby @PeterHamby]

Indiana vote is a reminder that plenty of GOP state legislators out there - especially in the midwest and south - are either old-timers or just parochial politicians focused on their districts & potluck dinners instead of national politics