Letter From the Managing Editor

Dear Reader,

It was likely some unbearably hot day in August that I had received the offer to be this year’s managing editor for The Wake. One could say that I was jumping with joy at this news while being equally terrified.

Of course, the offer came ripe with responsibilities and high expectations. After all, I would be the successor of a position that in the past has been filled with some of the most talented writers I’ve met on campus before. Furthermore, to be the managing editor meant taking charge of the features section of the magazine, a place that has historically created critical and important work, composed of rich articles that cover societal issues on our campus communities and beyond.

Perhaps it is through my distrust of journalism that I could reconcile my fears with my excitement for taking over the position of managing editor. After all, the state of journalism as it exists today has left me feeling disgruntled. Oftentimes, I question what is and what should be expected of the individuals who are trusted to deliver news to the general public. So much of what popular media sources try to pass off as news is—at least to me—utter garbage (Why should I care about Celebrity A’s breakup with Celebrity B when there are quite literally multiple genocides occuring in the world at the moment, all of which are receiving an indiscriminate proportion of coverage compared to anything Western-world related?).

I wholeheartedly believe that the job of the journalist is an important one and that they have specific ethical obligations to uphold in their news reporting. Among these are depicting only the truth, relying on hard facts, and taking care to not cause or incite dangerous rhetoric in their reporting. The Wake is one of the few publications that I’ve worked for wherein my reporting is free to be my own. Meaning when I write, my stories are not expected to deliver a certain narrative. Of course, it helps that The Wake is independently run by students here at the U rather than some ambiguous third-party conglomerate. Reporters so often of the time must answer to the interests of who owns and pays for their publication rather than writing to their own calling. Maybe it’s because The Wake is a college-campus publication, or maybe it's because the people in charge care.

Either way, I’m so thankful to have been granted a position that allows me to oversee and curate content that is free from outside influence and is what I want to write and read about. It is for this reason that taking over the role of managing editor has been less daunting than it once seemed to me. Sincerely, Reader, I hope that your reading of The Wake magazine is as fun for you as it was for all of us to put together.

I hope that this issue inspires you, or educates you, or makes you think about something you usually don’t. And as always, thanks for tuning in.

Yours truly,

Josh