Editor-in-Chief and Copy Editor Roles Open
As with every organization, there should be a changing of the guards from time to time. We at The Southwester are no different. When Julia Cole and I took over the newspaper more than five years ago, we came as a team. And now we will leave as a team. We came to this decision to step aside so the neighborhood can have a new voice. We do not believe that one person (or two people) should control an organization for too long. We are thankful to have led the neighborhood voice for more than 10% of its history. But now it is time for a new voice and a new perspective.
In our five years we have revamped the newspaper from a small paper that acted little more than an aggregator of a few neighborhood newsletters into what we have today. We overhauled the design top to bottom. We’ve grown readership both in print and online. Our social media following has grown 5,000%+ on Twitter. (We like that stat.) We’ve stood up our Facebook and Instagram pages, both of which are steadily growing as well. (Follow us if you’re not already.) Julia used her volunteer copy editor role to help land herself a full time copy editor role with Science magazine. I was even asked to moderate two DC mayoral debates! At the end of the day, we can walk away from the paper knowing we have taken The Southwester and turned it into a citywide staple that has another 50+ years ahead.
What we need now is you.
If you are interested in serving as the editor-in-chief or copy editor, please email president@swna.org and editor@thesouthwester.com with your stated interest in either position. (A round of interviews will be conducted for selection. Then we will work with the new editors to help train them to make for a smooth and easy transition).
We will miss serving the Southwest community in this capacity, but look forward to seeing what a new team can do with our neighborhood’s voice.
By: Shannon Vaughn
Editor-in-Chief