Editorial
Reflecting on our year
By Editorial Staff
May 7, 2015
The Spectator has never been as active in The Spectator as it was this year. While our dedicated staff and generous writers provide news, opinion, reviews and results, as an institution we tend to stay out of the fold. However, this year we found ourselves in the middle of several conversations on campus and had to explain and protect our work and beliefs. Sometimes we threw the first punch; sometimes we bowed out. Media big and small typically struggle to figure out if they are a medium for others or a player in their own right, and after this year it may be time to more closely consider the latter argument.
Every publication at Hamilton is meant to share information, opinions or muses. They provide language and imagery that other publications cannot, and they inspire conversations over early breakfasts and study breaks. The Spectator tries to inform students about events in their daily lives and give them a space to comment about life on the Hill. The Duel Observer tries to do something similar, except with more dick jokes. Red Weather opens up students’ journals and The Daily Bull explores their imaginations. In short, they are members of the Hamilton community in their own right. These roles as conversation starters and opinion influencers mean that every publication ought to, in some way, acknowledge their power and carefully consider how they use it. Editors, writers and photographers should interrogate what their issues and editions are trying to achieve and continually push themselves to do better. Since their glossy pages and official mastheads hold a little more power than the average student, they should appreciate and employ their influence productively.
Despite the long hours and serious implications, working on The Spectator this year has been enjoyable, productive and a pretty good use of our Wednesday nights. Whether the whole staff admits it or not, none of us would find new stories or hunt down class years for captions if the work did not feel meaningful every week. We know we are hardly professional journalists, and we all hope that each issue contains few mistakes. We try our best; we make mistakes, and for better or worse we have to show up each week and put ourselves out there again. Although it has been a hectic semester, and year, we remain proud to call ourselves Hamilton College’s only newspaper. Here’s to another 166 years in print!