From the 2020-2021 editor

Photo of Sarah Donaldson.

It’s hard to summarize all that happens in one year, especially when you’re living through historic conditions.

When I took on the role of editor-in-chief around this time last year, we were in the first months of a pandemic. I never thought that vaccines against the same virus would be widely available in the United States, we would still be struggling through virtual classes or I would still not have met some of our staff face-to-face.

First and foremost, I am immensely proud of every person who has done work with us this year, whether it was writing one story and taking one photograph or publishing a dozen pieces of content.

Our news staff nearly doubled in size, and the daily content our reporters, columnists and editors put out was thorough and eloquent.

Through an exhausting twelve months, this team still managed to produce a full-length print magazine, a voter’s guide, live election coverage, a brand new website and now a series of in-depth reporting to finish off the year in our project titled Snapshots.

From snippets about women in local public office to a glimpse into the crystal ball of upcoming elections, Snapshots is a little bit of everything.

In our role as an independent voice for Athens, our reporters and columnists focused on stories and columns that looked back on a turbulent year or looked ahead at what’s to come on a local and state level.

I wanted to finish with this: The New Political is a student publication, and while we pride ourselves on professionalism and dogged reporting, we also treat it as a place to try, to fail, to learn and to grow.

In my three years here, this publication has allowed me to succeed and to fail; I am deeply grateful to have had the opportunity to do both.