The last time I wrote a blog post about The Daily Princetonian, I had just become an Associate News Editor. Now, almost two years later, I am done being an editor after serving two terms. Editing for the ‘Prince’, as we commonly call it, has been my favorite part of Princeton by far.
Every week, I spent two nights “on shift”. This means I would spend several hours in our wonderful newsroom at 48 University Place editing the news articles that were due that night. I made suggestions about structure and edited for word choice and clarity. I loved when writers came into the newsroom to work with me on their article. The newsroom had a real camaraderie each night as it filled up with editors and writers as they made contributions to their respective sections. It helped that the newsroom was always well-stocked with snacks, from every type of chip you can imagine to fresh waffles made on the newsroom wafflemaker. The newsroom really feels like home to me now.
Even on days I wasn’t on shift, I still had various other responsibilities for the Prince. For example, I was the assigned editor for a few articles each week. I would check in with the writers for those articles and answer any questions they had. I helped them think of people to contact and develop questions for their sources. Interacting with our writers one-on-one was a truly rewarding experience because I felt like I could help them improve their reporting skills, and I learned from them as well.
While most of my contributions to the Prince were within the news section, I also attended full masthead meetings, where I contributed to discussions about the Prince as a whole. I served on various committees, like our accessibility working group, which focused on making sure that students with disabilities could access all of our reporting, and the speaker series team, which planned regular Zoom events featuring established reporters. I also worked on efforts to make the Prince more diverse and welcoming to writers of all backgrounds as a member of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Board. I love that the Prince is a place that values the opinions of all staff members, from people who just joined the organization to the most senior editors.
Even though I’m no longer an editor, I’ll continue to attend news meetings and social events this spring because of how much I care about the amazing Prince community. I’ll have more time to write news articles, and that’s why I joined the Prince in the first place. I have grown immensely by being a news writer and editor and I’m so incredibly grateful for this experience.