Dear Readers,
I would like to start by thanking our readers and all of those who have supported The Michigan Review since its inception. I would like to thank our e-board, Editorial Editors Neil Shah and Frances Smith, Publisher Sam Wallace, and Executive Editor Cameron Derwin for all of their hard work. I look forward to working with all of you this year, and it is because of all of you that I am excited for the future of this paper.
With that out of the way, it is important that I introduce myself. My name is Noah Garfinkel and I am the Editor-in-Chief for The Michigan Review this school year.
The Michigan Review was the first club I joined on campus and has been one of the most important for my college experience. The Review’s freedom and ingenuity have given me opportunities to defend my ideas, test my writing skills, and expand my perspective. It also allowed me to write on topics that other papers would have dismissed, and helped me gain respect and integrity for my unique perspectives and ideas, not for parroting someone else’s.
[The Michigan Review] allowed me to write on topics that other papers would have dismissed, and helped me gain respect and integrity for my unique perspectives and ideas, not for parroting someone else’s.
While the freedom of our paper allows The Review a unique voice and presence on campus, our campus presence has drastically decreased over the past few years. My goal for this year is to change that.
In order to increase our campus presence, we will print more consistently. In January of 2016, our paper decided to end making a print newspaper. We began printing again this past year with one end of the year issue for our readers, however we did not print nearly as much as we were hoping to. This year we will be printing three print issues each semester to make sure our presence on campus continues well into the future.
We will also be increasing our editorial team to include more copy editors and a streamlined editing process. We will also begin paying our writers. Last year our staff was noticeably low. That must change and we hope these changes will get more articles and issues out to our readers.
These goals are important because of how important this paper is, not just for the University of Michigan, but for our country today. It is no secret that we find ourselves in a unique moment. Our country and our campus is at a seemingly incredibly divisive moment, and it is increasingly hard to find those with a unique viewpoint or voice. This has led to a faltering state of journalism and writing, where an increasing hegemony of voices and views have tended to dictate the writing done on our campus and across the country. We are not right wing or left wing, conservative or liberal, but a home for all kinds of writers to learn how to tell and report stories.
We are not right wing or left wing, conservative or liberal, but a home for all kinds of writers to learn how to tell and report stories.
We guide writers through every stage of the process, and allow them to write and report on what they wish from the start. We challenge each of our writers to come up with unique perspectives, and force them to think deeply about each article they publish. The learning process and insight gained from this process are invaluable regardless of whether people choose to pursue careers in journalism. The Michigan Review is not just about grooming journalists, but about learning to think critically and use reason and logic. Those lessons can be applied to any career path.
Writing for The Michigan Review is by no means easy. You will have to work for your pieces and bring a unique perspective. We hold ourselves to a high standard and will challenge you to give us your best with every piece. While it is a challenge, it is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have as a college student. If that sounds like a challenge you would be excited for, feel free to reach out to us. We would love to have you. If you would like to donate to the paper you can do so here.
Sincerely,
Noah Garfinkel
