As the semester comes to a close, the time has come for the transition of the Old Gold & Black’s Executive Editorial positions. Yet before we announce the new positions, we would like to reflect on the current editorial staff’s accomplishments and shortcomings, as well as areas where we as a newspaper would like to improve in the coming years.
Senior members of the Editorial Board began their time with executive positions at a unique time in our publication’s history, the Old Gold & Black’s centennial edition in January 2016. This calendar year proved significant for this group of editors for two particular reasons. First, this year was filled with opportunities to celebrate and commemorate the past 100 years of the publication. And second, it marked the first time in recent history that the publication would be led by two sophomores, Editor-in-chief McKenzie Maddox and Print Managing Editor Kyle Tatich.
Maddox led the Old Gold & Black for three semesters and served as Editor-in-chief for the celebration of the centennial issue, as well as for the celebration of life for Wake Forest’s most famous alum, Arnold Palmer. Both of these issues will continue to hold a special place in the history of the Old Gold & Black and in the memories of the seniors that will roll off from their executive positions.
The areas where our staff has experienced extreme growth under the previous Editorial leadership is physically in terms of its number of members. Since 2016, the Editorial staff has almost tripled in size. Instead of having only one or two editors per section, each of the four sections has at least two editors and many have three.
From a production standpoint, the increase in the number of staff has allowed us to work more efficiently and pursue other areas of media communication, including making a podcast.
The second area where our staff feels we have developed as an organization is in both the number and the effectiveness of our investigative journalism pieces.
During the past year and a half, under the current Editorial leadership, our staff has written stories examining the conduct of the volleyball coach, exploring the underpinnings of the Eudaimonia Institute and holding the administration accountable for outsourcing the janitorial service to Budd Group. In addition, Arnold Palmer’s legacy was covered after his death, and on the anniversary of it.
The next Editorial Staff wants to build upon this momentum. One of the main focal points for next semester is Online and Digital Media, and producing new and unique content for the online site. Additionally, the Podcast introduced last year will be another important media focus for this Editorial Staff.
The current Executive Editorial staff is excited for what is to come. Under the leadership of Julia Haines as Editor-in-Chief, Becky Swig as Print Managing Editor and Heather Hartel as Online Managing Editor, the Old Gold & Black’s legacy of integrity, reporting the facts and serving the Wake Forest community will continue.
