For who knows how long, it’s been a tradition at the Campus Times for the Publisher to write an Opinions piece at the end of every semester, and for the Editor-in-Chief to write an Opinions piece at the beginning of every semester. And more often than not, the pieces boil down to this: CT is changing.
So here we go:
It’s very easy to write that “CT is changing,” because it’s always true. Something’s always shifting. Like our increased social media presence, or our exploration of video as a journalistic medium.
Our biggest change this academic year has been expansion. We brought on two Social Media Editors, to regularly post on Facebook and revive our long-dormant Instagram and Twitter pages. We now officially have a Business Manager to help us handle everything money-wise. We’re continuing our work in video, and growing “The Jenny,” CT’s sister monthly online culture magazine.
To accommodate the challenges of our monthly print issues, we brought on a whole presentation staff to work on laying out the paper.
The expansion doesn’t look like it’s going to let up this semester. We are creating the position of engagement coordinator to make sure that CT writers — and not just the editors — know they have a valued place at and are a valuable addition to the paper. And, as always, many of us on staff relish dreaming up as many new ideas and projects as we can.
So, yeah, you get the point: CT is changing. But like I said, there’s also a lot that isn’t.
You might think I’m about to wax preachy here — and I will in a bit — but I mean this on a non-philosophical level, too. Our schedule of putting content out weekly and publishing print issues monthly remains. And in this past election, many of the editors who’ve been here a year remain at the paper.
Okay, now here’s where I wax preachy. Ready?
What also hasn’t changed is our commitment to telling stories that matter to the UR community, and telling them in a clear, compelling, fair, factual, informative way. Also untouched is our commitment to representing the myriad of views and perspectives found among UR students.
These things have not changed, and they must not ever change. This is also true regarding our belief in constant improvement. We know we can always be doing better. We are constantly looking back at our old work to help our efforts going forward. The information could have been that much more clear. The story could have come that much sooner. We will not stop striving for improvement.
So if you think we’re missing something, or could be doing more, let us know. My email’s on the About page. As a newspaper, we need readers, and it’s always helpful to know what readers need from us.
Or even better, write for us. CT staff has grown pretty big, but there will always be room for one more.
