To our readers,
Today marks the 41st anniversary of The Tufts Daily. While we don’t often talk about ourselves, we’d like to use these pages on our anniversary to celebrate our accomplishments and acknowledge the work that lies ahead.
Since our first edition was published in 1980, the Daily has provided the Tufts community with timely and engaging written content. After the launch of our webpage in 1996, the Daily began to further embrace multimedia journalism with the creation of a Video team and social media accounts in the early 2000s. In more recent years, our staff have taken the initiative to form new departments and committees such as the Audio department, the Investigative team and the Intentionality & Inclusivity Committee, all of which prepare our publication — and members of our staff — for the future of journalism.
Despite receiving no direct financial support from the university, the Daily remains committed to supporting our staff through financial inclusivity. Admittedly, the pandemic has challenged us. We have curtailed print production and faced hardships as fewer local businesses have the budget to advertise. Nonetheless, we have continued to retain our status as financially and editorially independent.
The Daily has recently launched meaningful initiatives to better connect with our community and alumni. Our COVID-19 dashboard provides Tufts and local municipalities with a comprehensive, visual data source documenting cases in the community. We have revamped our presence on social media, worked to improve our website and introduced a number of newsletters to make our reporting more accessible. Our newly formed Alumni Council, composed of accomplished Daily alumni, will help guide the Daily in its mission to produce timely, accurate news. Its commencement in late January marked a new chapter of collaboration between Daily leadership and alumni.
While we celebrate this progress, we also recognize there is still more work to be done. Through steady efforts to improve our Intentionality & Inclusivity Committee, we continue to hold ourselves accountable to providing objective and equitable coverage of the community. In our reporting, we strive to represent our diverse student body and elevate the voices of those who have been historically marginalized. Tufts has recently launched a multitude of anti-racist initiatives to identify and eradicate structural racism on campus; we not only intend to inform our readers of Tufts’ progress, but also emulate this objective in our own organization. Our newly formed Education Committee will give our reporters the tools needed to achieve this goal and become fair, ethical journalists.
Some of us on the Managing Board have been asked why we chose to attend a university without a formal journalism major. The truth is, many of us did not anticipate becoming involved with the student newspaper, let alone dedicating several semesters of our undergraduate years to its survival and advancement.
The community found within the Daily plays a large role in this retention. The academic opportunities at Tufts prepare students for roles at the Daily and allow our organization to be inclusive of all students, regardless of academic background. Much of our strong community rests on the diverse range of interests and viewpoints represented within our staff and leadership.
Over the past 41 years, the Daily has established itself as part of the Tufts community, which remains the smallest college or university in the United States to have an independent daily student newspaper. We are proud to be part of an organization that has produced a host of successful journalists and student leaders and prompted considerable campus discourse. Every day, we stand on the shoulders of the thousands of Daily members who have come before us, and strive to create a strong foundation for those who will succeed us.
Here’s to 41 (plus) more years of education, empowerment, storytelling and being “Where you read it first.”
Sincerely,
The 83rd Managing Board of The Tufts Daily
Megan Szostak, Editor in Chief
Ethan Steinberg, Managing Editor
Yanqing Huang, Production Director
Liz Shelbred, Associate Editor
Colton Wolk, Associate Editor
Evelyn McClure, Business Director
