After winter break, the Torch came back swinging with a multitude of articles – but they were not in print. This semester we are taking an online first approach, getting articles in weekly and posting them online immediately instead of waiting for print. We will only be releasing four print issues in our online first approach. Many of those online stories will make it into the print issue, with additional reporting and stories: This issue, March 18, April 1, and April 23. As we continue to post handfuls of stories online each week, we will also be introducing an email newsletter to keep our readership up to date on the work of all our contributing writers and faculty members. This shift is mainly because it costs upwards of $600 to print our weekly newspaper that we distribute all over campus. Over the past several eboards, our debt has accumulated and one of our primary goals this semester is to fundraise to alleviate this debt for future e-boards.
If you would like to donate and keep the Torch in print, please visit our Gofundme page (gofundme.com/save-the-torch). You can also Venmo or Cashapp our Editor-in-Chief at @morgancmullings. All donations, even small ones, mean a lot to us, and to independent journalism as a whole. We will also be hosting bi-weekly fundraising events, like movie nights and book sales. Make sure to follow us on our social media platforms to keep up with our fundraising efforts.
In addition to that we’d really like to encourage pitches, tips and letters from writers. Some of our best stories from the past month were tips and pitches from anonymous students and alum – we are always looking forward to hearing from you all. For example, our Staten Island story in this issue, and the hiring pause story from last semester were produced in conjunction with anonymous tips from the St. John’s community. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to report on the most important happenings on each campus.
In other news, we have also elected a new managing editor, Dayra Santana, to replace our former managing editor, Amanda Negretti. Negretti graduated this past fall and was a dedicated manager to the entire team. Santana will be working alongside our EIC with her managerial duties of making sure the print issue is looking its best, and that each online article is moving through the editing process smoothly. We look forward to seeing her thrive in this new role.
