In the final editorial of the year, Jessica Thompson discusses USI Congress and her editorial team…
Here we are at last; the end of a volume. It seems like only yesterday that I was struggling with issue one. I made all my mistakes at the beginning and I learned from them. The past academic year has been such an experience for me.
Last week I went to USI Congress with a group of NUI Galway delegates. There I met delegates from other colleges, and mingled with numerous people of interest. The NUI Galway delegation headed off on Monday armed with t-shirts for every day of the week, and a bag of rubber ducks which would serve as our mascots. Granted, many of these rubber ducks were stolen, but I think one of them made it home, thanks to an appeal made by Claire McCallion to have the ducks safely returned.
The week was filled with madness; UV paint, SU Officers in dresses, random objects in elevators, hands going up and down with green cards, voting for or against motions.
The word “tashte” was thrown about the NUI Galway delegation, and even members of other delegations. “#tashte” became our thing, and all of a sudden this was tashte and that was tashte and certain things were absolutely not tashte. If you haven’t picked it up by now, to be “tashte” is a good thing.
I’m going to move on to something that’s very tashte. Sin Newspaper, and the huge amount of people who contributed to it this year. I may be the editor, but I am only one person in a team. Without the many contributors we’ve had across the year, Sin would be nothing, so I would like to thank the journalists who have worked so hard to make this happen.
Yes, we’ve had complaints. We’ve made mistakes and have had to issue an apology or two. Sin isn’t always right, and I like to hear from our readers who correct us when they spot the mistakes.
In the last issue, we published an article in support of RAG Week, in which the author mentioned one of the Welfare candidates’ manifesto for the elections. However, it was the wrong candidate he named, and this candidate has since come forward to point out the mistake. On behalf of Sin I would like to apologise to the candidate in question and thank her for her understanding and patience with us.
Also in the last issue we had the complaint I published on this page. It was, perhaps, our own ignorance that led to this mistake, and on behalf of Sin I would like to apologise to the author of this letter, and anyone else who may have taken offence. We used the wrong term, and I am grateful to have it pointed out to me.
Despite having two complaints in the last issue, I can honestly say that the total number of complaints I’ve had can be counted on one hand. This is down to the journalists themselves, and also to the fantastic editorial team who have helped me throughout the year.
Marése has been a fantastic news editor. She has always been able to spot plagiarism in articles, where I would not. This has resulted in a very strong news section. Marése has been a true gem this year, by editing news stories, interviewing SU Officers, and providing distraction by walking into my office, unannounced, at random times of the day. She’ll make a great journalist and I hope she gets everything she’s working for in her career.
James has been an absolute hero with the Arts and Entertainment section. Every issue I found myself completely ignoring his part of the paper. He sourced the stories himself. He got people to write them. He edited them, and he had them sent to me by Saturday evening, edited and ready for publication. When nobody volunteered to write an article, James would step up and would have it to me by that evening. This meant I never had to worry about not filling the paper. James would never see me stuck, “unless it was in mud in a field. That would be funny and in that case I would see you stuck.” Thanks James.
Órla and Séan have been great this year. The fact that they get on so well and are in the same course has been a great advantage to the paper. As they are studying the Masters in Journalism, I rarely worried about typos, and I never worried about incorrect facts. I could always rely on Órla to be the witty one with her Hat’s Off column, and Séan has been great at annoying people with constant phone calls in his quest to get quotes for his articles. Without them, there would be no Student Speak, and your opinions would not appear in Sin Newspaper.
Mark has been a great help. I may have mentioned in an earlier editorial that I don’t know one end of a ball from the other, so having someone who has a genuine interest in sports has been a great advantage. If there was a gap in the sports section, Mark has always been ready to fill it with a sports story, and I have appreciated that greatly.
The last member of the team, who doesn’t get much of a mention, is Shannon. Without him, the paper wouldn’t have ended up in your hand. He has done the layout, and the fancy designs, and made it look beautiful, and I am thankful that he’s done such a good job putting up with me all these months.
Some of the most important people, however, are you, the readers. Without you, Sin would be pointless. I hope you will all follow sin.ie, where you can comment and express your own opinions on stories.
It has been a pleasure to be your editor this year, and I hope you will all continue to read Sin next year, and even over the holidays if the website is in action.
Your editor,
Jess
