Dear readers,
I wrote my first article for TNH in September 2006. It was a game story about the UNH volleyball team's annual tournament and it was not good. Having never in my life written a news article (or been to a volleyball game for that matter), I spent two days watching games, trying to figure out what a libero was and working up the courage to talk to the Coach Jill Hirschinger about her team's performance.
Unfortunately, the team's 0-3 performance that weekend wasn't exactly the kind of thing that put coaches into a media-friendly mood, and after three very fast - and probably unintelligible - questions, I vamoosed without a single thing written in my notebook.
Had that first, quote-less story been turned away by the sports editors at the time, as it probably should have been, I can't say where I'd be today. Had that article not run in the paper - the only time my byline appeared as just "John Ferguson" - I may not have bought a voice recorder and gone back to cover the next volleyball game, and every other game that season. I may not have moved on to cover women's hockey, become a sports editor, a journalism major, an editing intern or the executive editor. I may have continued to be what I had been for most of my freshman year; a recluse, stuck in my dorm room, hesitant to get involved in anything.
My UNH experience will forever be inexorably tied to my TNH experience. The people I will remember and the memories I will have are almost all connected to this paper in some way. It has made me ill and elated, it is head-ache inducing and heart-breaking, yet extremely satisfying. I have failed tests, skipped class and missed parties because of this place. I have forsaken sunlight, exercise and even the semblance of a healthy diet. And given the choice to do it all over again, I would not change a thing.
Last spring, when I took over as executive editor, I set five goals for this paper: to expand our coverage beyond where it had been in the past, to increase our multimedia presence, to create a solid opinion section, to work harder to improve our quality through staff training and to compete with other college newspapers nationally.
Today, you have in front of you a paper whose news accounts have been picked up by the Associated Press and other news services, that has a website featuring video and audio on top of traditional reporting, as well as a newsroom blog, a Twitter account and a Facebook page. You're reading this in the Forum section that has appeared in almost every issue this year and included opinion pieces from members of the UNH community as well as pieces from other college newspapers. This paper, and every other one this year, was produced by a team of journalists who cannot only write articles, but edit and design pages, manage our website, take pictures and video and pass along those skills to other journalists. There are no longer any one-dimensional jobs at TNH.
And, in terms of competition, we were chosen as the sixth-best four-year weekly tabloid at the National College Newspaper Convention in San Diego last February in our first year of competition in recent memory.
There are, of course, other things about TNH that have changed in the past year. From the new front page design and newly-designed inside pages, to the resurrection of old standards like the student senate notebook and the police log, to the abolishment of half-page house ads and other frivolous space fillers, I came into this year focused on bringing a culture of change to this paper, and I'm satisfied with the outcome.
I realize that not every choice I made this year was popular. But every decision - from choosing which events to cover, what pictures to run and editorials to write - was based on journalistic values committed to reporting the truth and presenting it in an comprehensive and attractive way.
And, while I hope that many of the things I helped bring to TNH this year stick around for a long time, I also hope that I can pick up a paper next Homecoming and see new ideas taking the place of old ones. With a core senior staff in place for the next year, led by executive editor Cameron Kittle, managing editor Nate Batchelder, content editor Keeley Smith and multimedia editor Meg Power, I'm sure that will happen and I'm sure the paper will continue to improve.
I wish I had room here to thank all of the people that have helped me not only reach my current position, but through my UNH journey as well. To my staff, my editors and writers, I'm eternally thankful for the trust you put in me and endlessly proud of amount you have all grown in the last year. To my instructors and advisors, I thank you for inspiring me, challenging me and urging me to be better. And to you, the readers, the fans and the critics, I thank you for giving me the chance twice-a-week to expand your knowledge and my experience. (There are few feelings better than when I see people picking up the paper and reading it and knowing that I helped put it in their hands.)
Today may be my last day at TNH, but it is by no means the end of my career in journalism. This May, I will be heading to Florida to participate in the Poynter Institute Fellowship for Young Journalists and then heading into the workforce. It's a scary time to be jumping into the industry, but I trust the lessons I have learned while at The New Hampshire will carry me through that and the rest of my life.
Thank you, and as always, keep reading,
John Wayne Ferguson
Be the first to comment on this article!