The editor-in-chief leaned back in her chair and asked, “What changes would you make as editor-in-chief?”
A year ago, as I explained to a panel of seniors why I should be the next editor of the newspaper, I was asked that question. And now, as I reluctantly — but also eagerly — pass the wheel to the next captain, I’d like to reflect on my answer.
No, I didn’t accomplish everything I said I would during that interview. It’s the truth, and I’m not ashamed of it.
Like any student newspaper in the country, the T&C hops back and forth between well-oiled order and unchained pandemonium.
Reporters miss deadlines. Oafish editors OK stories without doing the one thing their title obliges them to do. Ink-stained proofreaders flounder around the newsroom begging writers to check their facts. Once, I lost my cool and hung up on someone.
It’s one crisis after another. And sometimes, amid the din, it can become easy to lose track of long-term goals and just focus on getting the damn issue to the printer before sunrise.
One of my goals was to include an absolutely stellar news story and feature story in every issue. Did I accomplish it? Maybe about half the time. Some of my favorite stories were Laina Thompson’s coverage of the quirky couple who wed in a frat house on a whim; Lindsey Hobbs’ investigative story on the Otterbein Police Department’s lack of disclosure; and Morgan Hendrickson’s immersion into the goofy yet undeniably practical world of the Otterbein Scooter Squad.
I also planned to run an editorial every two weeks, another goal that turned out to be too lofty. But the editorials that my staff and I did manage to finish were exceptional and made a difference. In one of my favorites, we argued that leftover meal-swipe money — which turned out to total more than $10,000 a year — be used in ways that more directly benefit students. After the article was published, the dean of Student Affairs asked me to meet with him to discuss different uses for the money.
A third goal of mine was to revamp and accelerate the editing process of the newspaper. My first attempt failed; my second attempt worked out beautifully.
I also had every intention of redesigning the paper. Never happened.
When I answered that question a year ago, spewing an annoyingly enthusiastic list of proposed changes, I’m sure that behind her smile, the previous editor-in-chief was thinking, “He’ll learn.”
I did. And now, as I watch the new editor-in-chief take her place at the top of the masthead — newspaper lingo for staff list — I know she aspires to accomplish a slew of goals just as ambitious as mine. My advice to her: Don’t give up on any of them.
