“Well Graig, you’ve already disappointed everyone who cares about you, so you might as well just do whatever you want.”
That’s the best advice I’ve ever received. It wasn’t given to me maliciously, though it may seem harsh. Amir, a good friend of mine, offered this counsel after listening to a self-pitying monologue I delivered concerning my future and fears of failing to meet the expectations of influential individuals in my life.
I didn’t take the comment — and I don’t believe he meant it — as a way of saying “Do what you want because you’re a lost cause,” but rather as a humorous reminder that none of us ever really meet the standards we believe other people have for us. Rather than living as a slave to expectations I’d dreamed up, maybe it was time to just live by my own standards.
I relate this story because, as incoming Editor-in-Chief of The Jambar, I’m running the paper by this philosophy.
Normally, an incoming editor’s message to the readers would include some promise that they’ll uphold the fine traditions of the paper and ensure they will be worthy of their readership.
I hope we’ll live up to all that, but, to be honest, I don’t really care.
Not to say I don’t care about quality or about our readers. I do. We all do here at The Jambar.
But being a slave to money and marketing and appealing to trending topics like cat photos and Kardashian news is the problem with a lot of mainstream media outlets. It’s not really their fault — you’ve got to keep the lights on, after all.
Luckily, we don’t. We’re permanent. We’re a fixture. We can experiment and mess up and report actual news and — for the most part — no one can get rid of us. So, before the world after college breaks us and forces us to compromise our ethics for profit, we’re gonna get a little weird with it.
So this year expect in-depth reporting about unsexy yet very important university news, intimate coverage of local arts and artists, engaging sports coverage, monthly theme issues, weekly online shows and regular social media engagement.
Give us feedback. Send us tips. Comment on stories, send us messages online, talk to us at events. Submit articles. You can do that! Come visit us in our filthy den of mischief on campus. We occasionally have food.
Enjoy the paper.
