Meet this week’s Campus Celeb: Editor in Chief of The Bucknellian, Morgan Gisholt Minard!
1. What has being the EIC of The Bucknellian taught you about journalism and media literacy?
It’s taught me that no matter what you write, someone’s going to hate it and someone’s going to love it. Getting over that is crucial to journalistic writing, because it has to be impartial and free of bias (with the exception of opinions pieces, of course). The integrity of a publication is something hard-earned and easily lost — creating and maintaining a reputable name for a publication while continuing to strive for journalistic excellence is so important.
2. How have you used your position to promote diversity and inclusion on campus?
As a paper, we’ve attempted to walk the fine line of impartiality and social responsibility — we don’t want our coverage to reduce someone’s personhood or identity, for example, so in the spring of 2016, we followed suit with the University’s adoption of a policy that refers to gender-ambiguous pronouns as “they/them/theirs” rather than “he or she.”
As a neutral publication and Bucknell’s only weekly independent student newspaper, we don’t have the latitude to express much opinion on social issues. However, we try to ensure that our coverage encompasses all groups and individuals on campus. I’m particularly proud of the Investigative News section’s pieces this semester on in-depth topics such as Bucknell’s non-status as a sanctuary campus, gender-inclusive bathrooms efforts, and the history behind Bucknell’s campus activism.
3. What has your position of EIC taught you about being a leader (or may I say a #bosslady?)
In the past few years, The Bucknellian’s visibility and readership has grown exponentially, and I think that’s because we have such a dedicated and interesting staff with different talents and passions. I love that the paper has become increasingly relevant as something that people actually read for information on campus (at least based on what I’ve heard from long-standing faculty and staff members).
Above all, it’s shown me that getting involved with something and throwing yourself fully into it can give you unrivaled leadership experience and a community that cares as much as you do about the things you are passionate about. Looking at you, my wonderfully talented staff that had no idea what they were signing up for when they ran for positions on Editorial Board :))
4. How have you seen writing promote positive change on campus during your time at The Bucknellian?
Words are incredibly powerful, and arranging them in the right way to express the right things has always been important to me. The Bucknellian affords writers and editors a platform on which to write about things like gender-inclusivity, social justice, student government initiatives, etc. that really matter to students and members of the Bucknell community.
5. Do you have any seniorly advice to the young writers at Bucknell?
WRITE! There are so many publications on campus, and there’s bound to be one that fits both your talents and your interests. Do your best to get involved with any (or many!) of them and I promise you won’t regret it.
Some Very Important Facts:
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#1 thing on your senior bucket list: I adopted a cat with my roommates sophomore year, and I’d like to retrieve him from the nice home he lives at in Connecticut and bring him back to the mods one last time. Probably a pipe dream, but he was a homie.
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Favorite Sunday food spot: Siam Cafe any day of the week.
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Favorite class you’ve taken: Human Rights seminar with Professor Emek Uçarer.
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Most memorable experience at Bucknell: I got the chance to interview Anderson Cooper (!!) when he came to give a talk in late January as part of the Revolution Redefined Series. He was every bit as funny and engaging as you’d expect him to be (hire me, please!).
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Favorite article you’ve written: Though it was under very unprecedented and trying circumstances, I think the best and most impactful article I’ve written during my time here was the editorial from our Nov. 12 issue, right after the election. Due to our publishing schedule, I had to make a 24-hour turnaround from learning that Donald Trump had won to putting pen to paper expressing what that meant to the editorial board of The Bucknellian. It was tough, to say the least, but I think what was expressed in the editorial was important and genuine and reflective of how many on campus were feeling. (Psssst, read it here!)
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Favorite/least favorite font: Least favorite should go to Comic Sans, but I don’t want to give it the publicity (oops), so I’ll say Arial because its role as the default font of anything and everything is horrendous. Favorite font goes out to Sabon for body text and Bebas Neue for titles/headlines.