Editorial | The Southern returns to print after two years of electronic publishing

The editorial staff | September 7, 11:07 p.m.

As staff celebrate a return to newsstands, we would like to introduce you to your college’s student newspaper, South.

It’s been exactly 100 years since South, with the College, arrived here on the shores of Lake Hollingsworth. It’s been two long years since South printed a physical paper, cut in 2020 due to budget restrictions. But, in a truly rare revitalization of a student-run newspaper, physical news has officially been restored to our campus. This, in an age of shrinking physical presence of news across the country, seems monumental, but it is actually a very small thing, yes, as small as our newspaper.

We publish every two weeks, we are led from top to bottom by students interested and passionate about journalism, and are excited to write for all of you this year.

Journals like ours exist in private and public universities. Every respected college has one, as small as ours or as large and reputable as Rory Gilmore’s. Yale Daily News. We are part of a culture of thought. Some have moved entirely online, such as the one at the University of South Florida the oracle, and others, like ours, remain in print, some even for centuries.

Our goal in this journal is to provide the student body with the essential information they need to be informed decision makers. From what’s good to eat in Lakeland to who’s running for student government, you can browse our pages and hopefully be able to make the best possible decisions for yourselves.

Some things to keep in mind when reading and reacting to our stories:

Don’t forget that we are students with you. We enjoy a summer sabbatical like any other student. And as studious as we are, no one to South is error free. We are students learning the basics of a fairly difficult discipline, and like other students, we make mistakes. Not often, but they do happen. Our mistakes happen in public and are very damaging: we smudge quotes, misspell names, forget quotes. We are happy to correct The southern one words where needed, and we hope that the student body will hold us accountable for these errors when they occur.

Also remember that you can contribute. Our student newspaper is exactly that: run by students. Every written word is written by a student, fact checking is done by students. The stories themselves are thought out and chosen by the students. If at any time you feel the need to voice an opinion or want to join our team, contact us and we’ll guide you to exactly where you want to be. We are a voice for the student body, and have existed in this role since 1918.

From our staff to the rest of FSC, we wish you all a wonderful New Year. Read the news!