A LETTER FROM THE INCOMING EDITOR IN CHIEF

Jesse Bauman
EDITOR IN CHIEF

An independent community newspaper like this one can and should be many things: speaker of truth to power; teller of stories, big and small; and, through those and other functions, builder of community. As I step into Allison Leonard’s (metaphorically) large shoes, I aim to keep growing the Community Edition in all of those ways.

I hope also for your input, and participation. The Community Edition is a team of people who give a shit, and you would not have this fine paper in your hands without them. You would also look pretty silly, pretending to read an invisible newspaper.

We are by the community and for the community, which means we also need to be of the community. I am an upper-middle-class, straight white guy. Yeah, I know. So please fill out our readership survey, and tell us what’s what. Whose voices are missing? Whose stories aren’t being told? Are we too soft on The Man? Too hard? Tell us in the survey, and you might win a piece of local art.

Or, join our team. We know you already give a shit.

Which brings me to my second point. I tend to think that culture is other people—what they make and do. Though it can be easier to see other people’s and group’s cultural practices than our own, we all come from somewhere, and we are all already part of this creative, culture-making process. Some Canadians worry that they-we-have no real cultural identity. Maybe, and maybe that’s a good thing. Culture happens when we tell our own stories, and no matter how hard The Man insists otherwise, they are all important.

So, you do stuff, and you have a history. Look around, and then pitch us a story. Or take a photograph. Or send us a letter. Or just line your green bin with our pages.

Deal? Great. See you next month.

 

Jesse is editor in chief of the Community Edition.