‘Post’ editor-in-chief Emma Ockerman introduces herself and gives you the rundown on what happened this week and what you can expect to see from ‘The Post.’
There’s something to be said about sleep, and it’s that I haven’t seen much of it this first week in The Post’s newsroom.
I think it’s safe to say none of us at The Post have, either because we’re out here five days a week making the newspaper happen, or because, just like many on campus, we’re settling into another (or first) year at Ohio University, and we’ve got some catching up to do.
Just in case you’re not quite caught up yet (and don’t worry, we’re all there with you), my name is Emma Ockerman, and this year, I’ll be the editor-in-chief of The Post, the student-run newspaper on campus. I’ll be writing this column weekly on Fridays to let you know what’s going on at The Post and what we’re going to be doing this year. Sometimes I might address our coverage, for instance, during a particularly heavy news week. I might go back in The Post’s archives and detail a little bit about our history. If I’m feeling profound, I might write about the future of journalism.
For now, I’m just going to tell you a little bit about myself and what The Post is doing to best serve its readers and staff members.
I hail from Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan. That’s a small suburb outside of Detroit, for reference. I live near a lake, so I tend to accidentally wear nautically-themed clothing. There’s a lot of navy stripes in my closet, and it’s best to ignore it.
When I was growing up, I wanted to be an emergency medical technician (afraid of blood), a professor (afraid of college debt) or a journalist (bingo).
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I joined The Post my freshman year at OU and quickly started covering weekly Athens City Council meetings and, eventually, the Athens Police Department. I ended out my sophomore year as local news editor, and wound up here.
So here’s where The Post is at now: We’ve completed our first week with only a few bumps in the road. You might notice that we’re working out some kinks in every aspect of the Post’s staff and have had a handful of corrections this week.
We didn’t expect to be perfect right off the bat, so we’re not going to allow some hiccups to distract us from doing our sole job here: deliver the news each day in a clear and interesting manner. As far as corrections go, we’re having newsroom-wide discussions to ensure we’re delivering that news with proper grammar and without factual error.
Speaking of delivering the news, you may have seen myself or other Post editors around campus talking about The Post and why students might want to consider getting involved.
On Wednesday night, we met with more than 100 possible staff members and doled out free ice cream. A few freshmen even got on the ball this week and started writing or shooting photos, which couldn’t have amazed or pleased us more. We’re excited to see more rolling through our doors at Baker 325 during the next few weeks, so expect to see some new bylines and more diverse content.
If anyone still wants to get involved with The Post, we never close our doors, and we never stop training. Please stop by our newsroom and meet our editors. I also bought way too much ice cream, so anyone is welcome to that, too.
In the meantime, The Post is looking ahead to a great year, and we’re grateful to learn from any mistakes we made this week. We’re ecstatic to learn from whatever new staff members might have to teach us. We’re also probably going to get some sleep.
Emma Ockerman is a junior studying journalism and editor-in-chief of The Post. Want to join The Post or comment on our first week back in print? Email her at eo300813@ohio.edu or Tweet her at @eockerman.
