By The Editorial Board
We’re a few weeks into 2024, which means most people have likely begun to falter on their New Year’s resolutions by now. However, The Lariat is just getting started.
While The Editorial Board isn’t trying to transform into a morning person or hit the gym, its members are setting goals to improve their work and better serve the Baylor community this semester. Hold us accountable for these New Year’s resolutions.
Steadfast support
As I pass the halfway point of my time at the helm of The Lariat, I have more goals than I could possibly put into this blurb. I hope to continue pursuing and promoting ethical, objective, high-level journalism — the kind that has earned this staff many national awards. I want to transform our content and tailor it to our audience so that each and every student on campus starts their day by scrolling through The Morning Buzz. Perhaps most of all though, I hope to give my editors, writers and photographers the support they need to grow as professionals and as leaders.
Journalism isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but I will walk alongside this staff through the challenging days along with the good ones. I will be their biggest advocate and their most intentional (constructive) critic. I will be exactly what they need me to be in the hopes that, together, we will be exactly what this campus needs us to be. Jenna Fitzgerald | Editor-in-Chief.
Making voices heard
Getting more people to write for me is definitely going to be a priority for me as Opinion Editor this semester. For those who are not aware, The Lariat offers the opportunity for any student or faculty member to write to the newspaper on a topic or issue of their choice via email. The Opinion Editor, such as myself, then collaborates with the writer to help their piece get published, just like the other columns that are published daily.
While I certainly appreciate the pieces I receive from my writers here at The Lariat, being able to receive and publish pieces written by other Baylor students is such a privilege and brings a wonderful diversity factor to our newspaper. It allows anyone to make their voice heard on something they feel needs to be brought to light. Finding new ways to make sure more people know about this opportunity will be at the top of my list of improvements for my section this year. Olivia Turner | Opinion Editor.
Digging deeper
Finding more behind-the-scenes or lesser-known stories to tell is one of my main goals for the semester. As a news desk consisting of eight writers and myself, we all collaborate to pitch and find the stories that readers see. While I think we do a great job now, I think there are a lot of stories worth telling that we may not have thought about yet. This is an important way to make the news section more varied and tell a diverse range of stories. Digging deeper and contributing more to brainstorming is on my New Year’s goal list. Keeping our eyes and ears open for story ideas around campus is a main part of this, but so is listening to reader feedback and outreach. Tatum Mitchell | News Editor.
Giving due diligence and dedication
This semester, my goal for the arts & life section is to dig deeper into features and diverse coverage. Everyone loves a good column, and they’re so much fun to write, but the best stories are the ones you never expect to do — the ones where you talk to a really fascinating person and get their backstory, the ones where you cover a marginalized community and highlight an interesting culture and the ones you can feel really proud of at the end of the day.
I want to push myself and my writers to find stories that will take some time and dedication to finish but will turn out more impactful and meaningful for them. That means taking the time to get to know student musicians and artists, finding faculty with passion projects, diving deep into cultural clubs, doing more than just attending the events and getting interviews. As a desk, I want us to be finding the very best stories we can and giving each one its due diligence. Emma Weidmann | Arts & Life Editor.
Finding unique angles
This semester, my goal is to feature people in the Baylor and Waco communities and the specific projects and stories they have. I always find myself reading about people who have a unique story or impact on my community. I believe that a lot of students can be inspired by these stories that are happening right in their backyard. There are so many professors, students and members of the surrounding area who have done amazing work for their field or have greeted waves of change, and I really want to focus on digging up those stories that may not be highlighted enough on campus. These stories can be hard to find, but they are definitely one of my goals for this semester. Sydney Matthews | Assistant News Editor.
Bringing back live radio broadcasts
As the Radio Director for The Lariat in 2023, my goal was to revamp the Don’t Feed the Bears podcast, found on Spotify. It is safe to say that worked, as the podcast reached an audience five times the size of the previous year and continues to grow. In addition, the team behind Don’t Feed the Bears capped off the semester with a livestream to pay off all the terrible sports takes shared since week one on the podcast, which will continue this year.
In 2024, Baylor Lariat Radio will bring back live broadcasts! After doing play-by-play for more than 70 different Baylor sporting events across four different sports since the beginning of my tenure with The Lariat, it became evident that the radio team has the talent and aspirations of going live and creating professional-quality broadcasts. With the baseball and softball seasons starting up in mid-February, myself as well as Joe Pratt, Jackson Posey and several other fresh new voices will take the airwaves and broadcast the games live for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Everyone who has tuned into Baylor sports on ESPN+ and other streaming platforms knows there are some less-than-ideal broadcasters who don’t prepare enough or know enough about the Bears. That is not the case with Baylor Lariat Radio, and as the Radio Director, I will make it my goal to compete and bring a no-nonsense, entertaining live radio broadcast to Waco. Foster Nicholas | Radio Director, Sports Writer.
Brushing up artistic style
This semester is my last at Baylor, and with that comes the end of my time at The Lariat. My goals for this semester are to continue to improve on the visuals I create for The Lariat by trying out new drawing programs and expanding my creative style. I hope that focusing on these goals and spending the extra time it takes to carry them out well will be evident in our publications this spring. Gwen Henry | Cartoonist.
