It's been a long semester, and The Post has changed quite a bit. Now, we're looking to head home.
One semester later, and the darned operation is still standing.
I was thinking a few days ago that if my intentions at the beginning of Fall Semester were for The Post to fail miserably, to fade into oblivion — and they weren't, I promise — there would've been about 100 reporters, designers, photographers and copy editors behind me refusing to let that happen. The paper would've printed, there would've been content, and there would've been someone telling the news. That's just what we do, and it's pretty incredible.
As corny as it sounds, that stuff isn't produced by my demand or anyone else's. It's produced because the folks in The Post's windowless, dark newsroom genuinely love what they do and have an innate desire to serve the readers.
That doesn't mean we don't have bad days. We do. We mess up, we miss deadline, and we burn out. The paper still gets made. We recognize our failures, use them as learning experiences and pick ourselves back up.
That's how The Post evolves, and we've already made quite a few big changes this semester. Our social media presence is stronger than ever, and we're writing more content with our mobile readers in mind. We're producing blogs, snappy stories the reader can skim while walking to class and longform, data-driven pieces the reader can take time to enjoy or benefit from. We're not perfect, but we're improving.
We wouldn't have changed our ways if it weren't for a few mistakes along the way. We learned a lot this semester, so we'll be announcing even more innovation when you pick up the paper (or read us online) again in January.
In the meantime, we'll be enjoying our time at home. We've already developed an odd case of newsroom-fever (we've been manically crafting for the holidays, and our editors are pretty close to completing a puzzle of the Eiffel Tower we're pretty excited about), but you'll still be able to find our content at thepostathens.com throughout the break.
One more thing: If you have a Postie in your life, hug 'em tight. They've done incredible work this semester, and you'll be able to expect a lot more.
Emma Ockerman is a junior studying journalism at Ohio University and editor-in-chief of The Post. Want to talk to her about stuff? Email her at eo300813@ohio.edu or tweet her at @eockerman.
