Penny for your thoughts: can anyone accurately predict how college will turn out? Everyone comes in with some semblance of a plan. Try not to get stuck dorming in whichever dorm Reddit told you was the worst. Definitely go to your 8 a.m. classes. Join as many extracurriculars as possible. For some of us, even though we swear we will stay focused on more career-oriented student organizations, all roads lead back to the University Media Board office.
I joined The Observer as a staff writer my first year and wrote my way through my grueling STEM coursework. I stuck to the life section mainly as a way to make sure I had a life outside of my dorm. As an out-of-state student, I knew nothing and nobody in Cleveland. Through my time at The Observer, all of that changed. I got my hands dirty at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Chalk Festival, took friends to find every movie theater within 40 minutes of campus and caught as much student theater as I could. After a year of writing, falling in love with campus and telling student stories, I then became life editor.
As cheesy as it sounds, being life editor made me appreciate student life that much more. As a student-run newspaper, we highlight news on our campus, by our campus. That is the true strength of student journalism. We occupy a unique position. As student journalists, we are able to cover the stories of our peers, right at the heart of the action, without the pressure to perform for external validation. We have the freedom and ultimate responsibility to show the truth of our time at Case Western Reserve University.
In the spirit of our characteristic honesty, this year we seek to increase public programming. We are supported by countless freelancers, working on both visual and written pieces. As part of our commitment to supporting the skillbuilding of our community, this year we will be running a series of open workshops. Our first workshop will be Sept. 26 in collaboration with Discussions, the undergraduate journal, and will cover all things interviewing. If you want to learn what questions to ask, how to structure a story from an interview or even just where to begin, this is the workshop for you. Even outside the news space, learning how to get to know somebody in a professional context is an essential networking skill. Look out for more information on our Instagram.
We also recognize that people increasingly get their news from online sources. In order to better serve our readership, we hope to broaden our digital presence. Expect an expanded video catalog, including long form explainers and day-to-day coverage of all things CWRU. We hope to meet our peers where they are, and right now, that is the online space. In a continuation from last year, we will continue to push out our weekly newsletter. While we can’t deliver a print issue to your dorm, we can pop into your inboxes with your weekly dose of campus life.
If you are interested in getting involved with The Observer in any capacity, please reach out to observer@case.edu and we can discuss a role that is right for you, whether it be photographing local events, managing advertising or of course, covering topics of interest for the CWRU student body.
It is an honor to be your next executive editor and I hope you will continue reading on as the year goes on. In an ever-changing news media environment, we hope you will find structure picking up an issue every Friday.