Eight months.
That’s how long its been since I took over as editor in chief, and in that short amount of time, so much has changed.
I’ll be the first to admit that we didn’t do everything right last semester, and that’s OK. We’re called student journalists for a reason.
But on the other side of the coin, we need to be held accountable. That’s where I need your help as a reader. I want you to give us the most constructive criticism you can at all points of the semester on our stories, our photos and our social media content.
2015 was a monumental year for The Cougar in terms of reader feedback. More than ever, readers were able to share how exactly one of our stories affected them. We don’t know how we’re doing unless you tell us, so I want to thank everyone who commented, liked or shared one of stories, regardless of whether or not it was because they liked it or hated it.
Last semester, we had the most vocal proponents — and opponents — appear on our social media feeds. Our only complaint was that there wasn’t a more diverse group of commentors. Most of the time, we only had five or six of the same voices give us feedback.
If you don’t want to give feedback publicly or over a social media forum, feel free to email me at [email protected] or you can even tweet me @glissettetweets. I’d be happy to pick your brain about improvements that can be made.
A goal of mine is to be more transparent with the UH community, and if that means putting myself front and center of the action, so be it. I want all readers to understand that we’re a hard-working, committed student news organization, and I can’t wait to hear from every type of voice in the UH community.
We can’t grow as an organization without someone — everyone — holding us accountable.
Are you up for it?
— Glissette Santana, editor in chief
