Hello, readers, and welcome to my inaugural editor’s column.The September issue is a fitting opportunity to introduce this new feature, as we’re beginning a new semester and academic year, as well as beginning my first full semester as Editor in Chief of the Observer.
Our staff’s work on this issue began well before the first day of the semester, however, with staff meetings and email exchanges resuming the first week of August after our all-too-brief summer break, plus an influx of unedited copy which arrived shortly thereafter.
As I worked on editing the stories for this issue, attempting to convince my brain to exit vacation mode, the thought, “I still have to write something, too!” loomed large in the back of my mind. I had a few ideas kicking around, but so far I had not been inspired with an idea I was excited to write about. Then I unexpectedly found myself thinking about mission statements. Did we even have a mission statement? Well, right below our name on the front page of each issue are the words “Voices of the Students of Mount Wachusett Community College.” That certainly sounds like a mission statement, even if it’s not official.
This realization radically changed my perception of our publication and my role as editor in chief after only a few moments of contemplation. To be perfectly honest, the first thing I did when I found out I had been promoted last semester was Google the phrase “what does an editor in chief do.” Though I have a number of duties, based on that search I generally considered my primary responsibility to be “decide what goes into the newspaper.” This is still a functional description of my role, but my new consideration of our mission has shown me that my old working definition is not exactly accurate.
My team and I are responsible for a lot of decision making but, ultimately, we don’t exclusively decide what goes into the paper. That’s up to the students. We don’t single-handedly create all the content. We provide and maintain a platform to host others’ work. We, as an organization, are not the voice of the students of MWCC; we are the curators of their voices.
I conceived of this column as a way to open the lines of communication with our readers and content creators, to give you more insight in to how The Observer is made. I don’t want us to appear to be some nebulous entity, or an extension of the PR department. We are an independent organization, for the students, by the students, and transparency is key to our relationship.
I want you to reach out and tell us what subjects you want covered, and what matters most to you. Share your opinions and perspectives. Not just the Professional Writing majors and those taking Journalism courses, but the whole student body. My sincere wish is to be able to give you access to this platform, to let your voices be heard.
So email us your submissions or story ideas. Write letters to the editor. Come work for us. Visit me in person in the newsroom. Don’t worry about your writing ability. If you have something important to say, we can work with you to create a story that gets your message out there. I want to hear from you and I’m looking forward to it.
Sincerely,
Sophia Schlegelmilch,
Editor-in-Chief
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