After 39 years in print media, Bain offers a professional touch as a new adjunct instructor of journalism in the College of Communication and Information Sciences. Normally taught by Associate Professor Bailey Thomson, a former newspaper colleague of Bain's, the course has been a cornerstone for special reports produced cooperatively with the Mobile Register and Huntsville Times.
Students also use the course to do the research and reporting for special stories.
Journalism 411 allows students to dig beneath the surface of issues to bring out unusual or surprise elements, using some of the techniques of fiction writers, such as extended description and narrative form. By researching beyond the typical beat story, Bain's students are expected to come up with stories that enlighten and explain not just describe. The key is if the ideas are doable and if we can get them published. As an editor at the St. Petersburg Times from 1979-1998, Bain acquired the savvy and experience he is trying to impart in future journalists. He also served in the U.S. Army as a military intelligence analyst.