Dear Principia Community,
Welcome to the Pilot.
The Pilot is Principia’s student-run newspaper. As a local paper, and particularly as a campus paper, the Pilot is dedicated to printing news about local niche topics that are nevertheless important. A large public newspaper, for example like, say, the New York Times, would never write about the changes in student parking at Principia.
But the Pilot, as a small, campus newspaper, will write about the issues that are important to the community. The purpose of the Pilot is “To keep the community informed, educated, and entertained.”
The Pilot informs its audience by publishing writing stories important to the community that are nevertheless not widely known. For example, Hannah Wymer’s story in this issue explains the changes in the study abroad program and how the program works.
The Pilot educates by diving further into stories generally known around the community to explore unknown details. If rumors are going around about a certain topic, the Pilot may write a story telling the truth of the situation and why the situation happened in order to so we can correct the rumors. The story about intramurals written by myself and Grace Thompson, is a story educating the Principia community. While most people know what intramurals are, the story educates by explaining what is happening this semester with intramurals and why.
Informing and educating are two things that all newspapers seek to do. The Pilot also seeks to entertain the Principia community. We publish satire—funny fictional articles that contain the absurd, occasional cartoons by Principia students, and of course our ever-popular Prin Overheard.
While we exist for the Principia community, we do not just publish news specific local to Principia. Principians care about the world outside of Principia, so we must educate and inform about outside issues as well. For every issue, we will have a section that includes stories from happening elsewhere in the world. Likewise, we will have a section about news from college campuses nearby.
The next issue of the Pilot will come out the week before election week. The election is vitally important, but can feel divorced from Principia. We are planning to bring the election to Principia by showcasing student thoughts on the election and how it can impact Principia students.
A further purpose of the Pilot is for the Pilot staff. The Pilot is far more than just a publication. Since As Principia is a college, the Pilot also helps students learn. It teaches journalism, writing, ethics, editing, accountability, interpersonal skills, and leadership.
I rose from the ranks of lowly satire writer to becomeing Editor-In-Chief this year. I started out writing satire freshman year because I enjoyed the satire that was being written by the previous satire writer. I soon found myself writing non-satire stories and helping edit. Eventually, I found myself more and more involved, culminating in my current position.
I never expected to get involved with journalism at Principia,. Bbut I’m glad I did. I have learned more from my experience on the Pilot than from any class. It has also given me a chance to help give back to the Principia community. I’m especially grateful that I get to shepherd a new group of students into working for the Pilot.
So, Principia community, please enjoy the Pilot. It is an important institution inside Principia, created for you. The staff has been working diligently to provide a wonderful issue for you. If you have any questions, feedback, requests, or clarifications on anything in the Pilot, please reach out. I can be reached by email at [email protected], and will pass on any feedback to my staff. We would love to hear from you.
