Dear members of the Tufts community,
This semester has been one with many ups and downs, both at Tufts and on the Daily. As our current managing board, made up entirely of graduating seniors, prepare to enter the real world, we look back on the legacy that we have helped build at this paper. We have had shining moments in our coverage, from breaking public safety stories and closely following campus and national politics, to featuring outstanding individuals in the community and capturing the energy of regional and national sports wins. Our photographers have spearheaded stories at the break of dawn and our reporters have sacrificed parts of their personal and academic lives for more comprehensive and timely coverage. We have pushed the envelope and engaged with the Tufts campus more consistently and actively than ever before. And we have developed an increasing awareness at all levels of the Daily of the impact of who we cover and how we cover them.
But we still have room to grow. Being at the helm of the Daily this semester has been incredibly humbling, to realize both the power and influence that this paper holds on campus in creating change, telling narratives and documenting history, and the ways in which we still fall short of ideal reporting. It is difficult for us to put our hearts and souls into this paper, and to still be criticized by administrators, faculty, fellow students and Daily staffers, but it reminds us of the responsibility and agency that we have to be better than the "mainstream media," because we can be, and we should be. Without enormous financial pressures, competition from other outlets or the draconic supervision of an ownership with an agenda, we have the ability to tell stories accurately, representatively and responsibly, to be at the forefront of journalistic innovation — proven time and time again in our breaking coverage or in-depth features — and to not constrain ourselves within the traditional axioms of media. We see ourselves moving away from being an "institution" trying to cover the entire university and towards being a collective paper created for and by everyone in the Tufts community.
We hear rhetoric about how traditional print journalism is dying, and we at the Daily see that to be true. We are excited to be one of the pioneers of the new media landscape, looking digital-first and digging deeper beneath the headlines to tell the campus' stories in the best possible way. We look ahead to next year with the establishment of our very own "Spotlight" team and the eventual debut of a mobile presence.
It has been an absolute pleasure to see how much the paper has grown over the years. While I complain about waking up in the morning to Slack messages about breaking news events, needing to consistently hydrate with coffee or spending most of my waking hours in the Curtis Hall basement, I would not have traded this experience for the world. To work alongside dedicated, passionate and visionary journalists and creators every day, telling the multitude of vibrant stories at Tufts, has been an honor and a privilege. I am excited to see where the Daily will go next, and I hope you are too.
Cheers,
Sarah Zheng
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