When I found out I would be the next editor-in-chief of The Bagpipe, I was overjoyed. After two journalism internships over the summer, I felt prepared for anything that may come with leading the beloved Covenant College student-led newspaper.
But, a question I have struggled with over the past few months while editing articles, working on titles, meeting deadlines and making sure every detail in the paper gets taken care of by the day of publication is this: how truly beloved is this student publication across campus?
Every two weeks, The Bagpipe is distributed. In Sanderson, Carter lobby, Kresge Memorial library and several other areas, stacks of newspapers sit on the entrance desks and side tables… but how often do they get picked up? How often do students take the time to sit and read through the articles, or do they simply skim the pages looking for something interesting only to put it back down and move on to schoolwork, friends, or other more “important” things?
These wandering questions automatically make me sad. As someone who knows the effort each of the staff members puts into making the student-led paper possible, to think that people may not even read it is heartbreaking. Now, I recognize that a lot of people do read and appreciate it, and for that I am very thankful.
However, I also know that many are neutral towards the paper or don’t have any interest in reading it at all. I’ll admit, before I became interested in journalism I didn’t read it much either.
I have been asking around on campus and taking Instagram polls to see how often people read The Bagpipe, why they like it or don’t like it, and encouraging other members on staff to do the same. From the small amount of responses I’ve received, it seems like a lot of people are neutral about the publication.
I got responses like “I generally find the articles to be uninteresting” or “nothing particular I dislike” or “I like what I have seen so far, no complaint.”
These are not all bad reactions, but I wouldn’t say they are enthusiastic either. Not that I am expecting a parade, but I think for those of you who don’t, if you sat down and took a few minutes to read some of the articles, you may be pleasantly surprised at how interesting they can be. The Bagpipe is something everyone at Covenant College should care about and want to read.
But why?
You should care about The Bagpipe because it is the voice of Covenant College. The paper tells the stories of our unique college campus. It takes our fellow students’ voices and raises them up.
The first part of our mission statement is as follows: “The purpose of The Bagpipe is to serve as the student newspaper of Covenant College. As such, it should always work for the greater good of the Covenant community, broadly defined, and to support the motto of the college, "In all things Christ preeminent." It is for our Covenant community.
You should care about The Bagpipe because it raises hard questions about Christianity, living faithfully on a college campus, diversity, and other bold opinions topics. It can set the mood for a beautiful, humble discussion of different ideas about the world we live in.
You should care about The Bagpipe because it tells powerful stories, locally and campus-wide. Stories that students take time out of their day to create and genuinely want you to care about. It is not just words slapped on a page; it is about people, places, events, history, art, language, and myriads of other things. It is Covenant College history in the making, going all the way back to the first edition in 1955.
But, if none of this convinces you, just know there is something interesting for everyone in the paper. There have been articles on everything from paedocommunion, to a Covenant alumni records store, to the hot streak of Covenant athletics, to a Covenant student who helped save the life of a dying child. The variety is stark.
When I became editor-in-chief, my vision for The Bagpipe was to make it more interesting to students. I want to tell stories about the things in the back of our minds every day on campus that seem important, but never really get talked about.
I want to uphold the integrity of truthful, factual journalism, but in a way that tells a story and entices students to care more about the words on the page… the story being told. Not just the easy stories about events and faculty members and campus life, but the hard stories about financial problems or controversial chapel talks or whatever else may be difficult to address. Oftentimes the stories about the hard things are the most powerful.
I am taking steps to reinvigorate students’ love for the time-honored tradition of The Bagpipe publication. A new position is in the works that involves more of a social media presence, and this year we have staff meetings every two weeks so everyone is on the same page.
However, I cannot change the neutrality of opinion towards The Bagpipe on my own.
Covenant College, my hope is that in reading this, you will see how much I care about making our school newspaper truthful, factual and informative, but also entertaining, engaging and thought-provoking.
But more than that, my hope is that you will care. My encouragement to all of you is to sit down somewhere cozy, sip on your coffee or tea, and take the time to read The Bagpipe. Be consumed by its powerful storytelling abilities. You may find it to be more enjoyable than you expected, and if you don’t you can always come talk to me about a story that might compel you to read our beloved school newspaper.