This letter represents the view of Old Gold & Black Deputy Editor Skyler Villamar-Jones, not the Old Gold & Black.
There is a lot of news. Our phones ping constantly to notify us of new articles. Beyond Washington, stories can be found in every corner of the world. All of these stories have an impact, and all of them deserve the opportunity to be shared. This quick news cycle is admirable.
Even Wake Forest has a constant stream of news — there are endless events, organizations, announcements, people and more that deserve to have their stories told. There is even more news beyond the edge of campus — our City & State section, which began last fall, expanded our coverage to the Winston-Salem community and North Carolina. And yet there are always stories left untold.
The Old Gold & Black’s motto, ‘Cover the campus like the Magnolias,’ embodies our commitment to produce timely and quality news. We are proud of our coverage. But we acknowledge as student journalists that we are all still learning and that our coverage is imperfect.
Don’t get me wrong — timely news is vital. The public deserves to be informed about what happens in the world, and passionate reporters deserve the opportunity to pursue interesting stories. In an idyllic world, journalists would cover any and all stories they wish. Realistically, though, the finite resources most newspapers have make this impossible.
The Old Gold & Black is fortunate to receive University funding. We are also lucky to have a large staff of editors, photographers/videographers, designers, and, of course, writers. We have seven sections of our paper that encompass the major aspects of campus news. This is a privilege not many small papers have. And yet, we can only do so much.
Yes, this is frustrating, but our student newspaper is staffed by just that: students. We all must balance our academics and extracurriculars, and sometimes, academics take priority. As full-time students, we do not have the time to pursue every single story idea we have. While our staff is expansive, our editors often write stories in addition to their other time-consuming responsibilities.
There is also a learning curve for new writers, and timely stories may take time to be written and developed to our standards. We prioritize being able to mentor new journalists over rushing coverage.
Our commitment to cover the campus like the Magnolias is something we take seriously. We promise to put our best effort toward expansive and timely coverage.
