On March 6, members of our Editorial Board left the newsroom to start our long awaited spring break. Many of us were anxious to get off campus, yearning for a week off. What none of our seniors knew was that they had already experienced their last caffeine fueled production night, their last feeling of fulfillment when papers hit the stands on Wednesday mornings and their last debate over the newspaper’s front page.
With St. Joe’s move to virtual instruction for the remainder of the spring 2020 semester due to the coronavirus pandemic, The Hawk paused print editions for the first time since World War II. To compensate, we shifted our coverage to be completely online, and then created a weekly newsletter to deliver our digital coverage directly to our community members’ inboxes. The newsletter is now a new tradition our next generation of editors will carry on through the summer.
As a staff, we collectively agreed that it was essential to work through the uncertainty in order to continue to provide the St. Joe’s community with fact-based journalism. Although in-person interviews have become phone and FaceTime calls and photojournalists need face masks as much as they need cameras, we continue to adjust and serve our community by any means necessary.
The Hawk has reported over 50 stories regarding the coronavirus, beginning with What You Should Know: coronavirus outbreak on Jan. 28. We’ve worked together from hundreds of miles apart, making our desks and couches at home our new newsrooms, locking ourselves in our childhood bedrooms to hide from our new coworkers (pets, disruptive siblings, nosy parents, etc.) in order to attend Zoom staff meetings, conduct phone interviews or write stories. We do this because we are committed to answering difficult questions our community has about St. Joe’s and the coronavirus.
We’ve scrambled to cover breaking news such as announcements concerning commencement, what services are still available on campus and updates on virtual instruction. We’ve been mindful to relieve our readers from a coronavirus news overload by including stories such as Escape quarantine through these films in our digital coverage.
The Hawk also recognizes the importance of covering how the coronavirus impacts different groups in the St. Joe’s community. It is important to elevate the voices of those who are uniquely affected by the coronavirus like international students, professors and students who need to remain on campus. We prioritize serving our community as a whole, not just the majority.
With today being Save Student Newsroom Day, our editors have reflected on the significance of what we do: we’ve been working relentlessly to provide the information and news our St. Joe’s community needs and deserves. We know the importance of delivering fact-based, informative journalism, and relaying the messages and recommendations of healthcare professionals, scientists and other leaders on the front-lines. Now more than ever, we, student journalists, know what we do carries substance.
Throughout this unprecedented time, our senior leadership has continued to excel in guiding The Hawk’s coverage of the coronavirus, despite having their last moments of college ripped away from them. They have continued to organize content, host meetings virtually and remain a constant source of support for the rest of staff. They confidently moved to train the incoming leadership in order to ensure the success of The Hawk even during worldwide pandemic. We bid our seniors farewell and good luck, and thank them for their continued support and undying loyalty to The Hawk.
-Jackie Collins, Editor in Chief, Ryan Mulligan, Managing Editor, Cara Smith, Copy Chief & Tayler Washington, Opinions Editor
