This is my third and final semester as editor-in-chief, a rather uncommon stretch for a college newspaper, where positions act more like revolving doors. If you do the math, I entered this role as a junior – an upperclassman on paper; but on the inside, I felt as young as the freshmen eyes staring back at me.
I remember what it was like that first Tuesday night meeting, my mouth dry as I stood in front of a staff built by a summer of hard work canvassing for new writers. I spent one semester as managing editor, reeling from the brunt of COVID-19, which took a hammer to our numbers and left assignment nights almost like pulling teeth trying to get content. When I became EIC of The Journal, I vowed to do everything in my power to make sure this piece of Webster University history survived and to get more voices in the newsroom.
Our small staff worked fervently, holding tables at involvement events for current and incoming students. It paid off: That first meeting in Fall 2023 brought in nearly 30 students, excited to find a way to contribute to The Journal. We hit the ground running.
This time was not without its challenges. Gone were the days of bi-weekly printing, as was the Webster student newspaper modus operandi for nearly a century. To replicate the journalistic world that graduates were entering, the decision to shift to digital-first content with one print edition each semester was made in Fall 2022, requiring an entirely new organizational format. Coupled with what has become an annual budget cut, we were forced to analyze every piece of the process and solidify what would become the “new” Journal.
During this time, I remember walking into the newsroom with the sinking feeling that our work wouldn’t be enough. I didn’t think I could look at the staff and tell them the budget was cut again and that their hard-earned work might not make it to print. It is hard to be a brave, unencumbered captain when you can’t promise your staff that their efforts won’t be swallowed by something powerful and impersonal – a surefire way, I suppose, to prepare us journalists for the uncertain world we will soon face, where local publications and stations get purchased and sold, often without warning for the humble public servants within.
It was around this time that I came across the Emerson Library’s digital archives of The Journal’s past newsprints. Years of work by dedicated archivists made certain the collection of student-produced news – which holds the most candid and consistent portrayal of Webster University history from a student perspective – was safe and accessible.
The archives date back to 1920 with the first student news publication, LISTEN!!, formed by the Sisters of Loretto. “Loretto College is still young,” the contributors wrote in their first issue. “And who knows but that this little paper we are now launching on the sea of amateur journalism may figure quite prominently in the history of our Alma Mater, and shall we not in after years be proud to say that we originated and were the first to publish LISTEN!!”
LISTEN!!, which lasted until 1922, mainly held brief news items about events, editorials, jokes and poems. Two years later, The Web surfaced, growing to six pages in length and marking itself as the predecessor with the closest resemblance to The Journal as it stands today.
The Web debuted Oct. 3, 1924, making this year the 100th anniversary of continuous student news on Webster University’s campus.
It is this history that I hold on to when it seems at every corner there stands a booby trap attempting to silence our voices. It makes it all feel much more important. We aren’t just filling the air with our voices. By publishing under The Journal, we are emblazoning our names on a century-long timeline.
I can promise you we aren’t in it for the byline and especially for the money — and if we are, we chose the wrong career. We do it for the stories. We are historymakers in the sense that the stories we write will grow roots and survive the mudslide of time passing. As journalists, we are reprimanded for making generalizations. But I will still posit this one: Every one of the student-journalists at The Journal is driven by the desire to make voices heard.
As my graduation date draws near, I find myself in the position of the many newsroom leaders before me, preparing to pass the torch of this piece of history – one that has burned for 100 continuous years.
It has been a true honor to serve the Webster student body in this way and I take immense pride in having had a voice in The Journal’s history.
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