Kearney, Nebraska. April 2025. The air was thick with ambition, burnt hotel coffee, and the collective scent of 40 years of disappointment and optimism duking it out in khaki pants. The Nebraska Press Association convention had descended on Kearney like a band of sleep-deprived saints and half-functioning drunks armed with business cards, AP Stylebooks, and half-charged phones. We came not for…