Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of commentary online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.
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News, like everything else, is changing. And I guess that’s why I’m here.
Hi. I’m Noor. I came on board at Strib Voices as our Opinion audience editor in June. But I’ve been working behind the scenes for longer ― in the past two years I’ve curated letters to the editor, copy edited your commentary submissions (lightly, of course) and, my favorite, designed some of the pages that make it into our section of the print newspaper. I also wrote a handful of commentaries and signed editorials as an intern in 2023.
But what does an Opinion audience editor do? That’s a great question, and one I haven’t fully figured out yet. But I can maybe speak to the greater philosophical question I’ve been trying to tackle since taking on this new role: As news consumption changes (and legacy media organizations nationwide continue to grapple with financial stress and competition from shiny, new alternative media formats) how can we remain relevant while continuing to explore new ways to engage our audience?
Typical. Saddle the 23-year-old with the social media management and existential industry problems.
I’m joking, of course, but it’s a big question. One that people way smarter than me have been trying to find the answer to for years. In the near term, one thing I’ve been trying to do is diversify the ways our department is able to reach readers: including social video and graphics, and (soon, I hope) a revamped newsletter. Keep your eyes peeled for that last one.
That isn’t to say that the print product isn’t important. My focus is digital media, sure, but there will always be something special about a physical newspaper that can’t be replicated by an intangible online article or Instagram post. When I was a student at the U not too long ago, I would spend hours in the basement of Wilson Library just to devour the newspaper (an experience I enjoyed so much I wrote about it for the Minnesota Daily).
