Owen Garvey ‘27
News Editor
As the final stretch of the semester approaches, the Spire is covering all the important news and events on campus. But what is the paper like behind the scenes? The average week proceeds as follows: writers present their topic ideas on Friday and turn in their final articles by Monday; all staff members meet on Sunday to go over any issues or concerns; chief editors design the layout of the paper on Tuesday; a new issue hits the stands on Friday.
The Spire is a fun but fast-moving organization that requires dedication from all its members. “As Chief News Editor, I see my job as telling the story of our campus and the wider world,” says Chief News Editor Owen Whaley ’24. “With that aim in mind, I try to cover meaningful issues. In the past, I’ve written about the Israel-Hamas war, Affirmative Action and Legacy Admissions, and the national housing crisis. My ultimate goal is to promote informed campus discourse on all issues, including those that are controversial.”
Chief editors work to refine the skills of their section writers. “We have an excellent team of staff writers, and I’ve found it rewarding to help them improve their reporting and writing skills,” says Whaley. “I try my best to ensure the articles we publish are our best to represent the talents of their authors. I look for typos, improve wording, and pair the articles with compelling images. I read everyone’s articles one, two, and three times to catch any overlooked errors. Of course, a few inevitably fall through the cracks. The digital editors transfer each article to the website, so I don’t have much control over how our section looks online.”
Chief Features Editor Matt Nickerson ‘24 expresses that the Spire has helped him become a stronger writer and leader. Additionally, serving as a chief editor enables him to help other writers hone their skills.
Patrick Ryan ’27, a new staff writer, says, “As a new writer, it’s been exciting to see the inner workings of the Spire. It’s impressive how students are able to create a full-fledged newspaper purely from the participation of willing writers. Writing for the Eggplant has been a blast so far, and I’m excited to see how the paper will continue to evolve.” The staff writers and editors of the Spire are contributing to the intellectual and cultural life of the Holy Cross community by helping create an informed and engaged student body.
Featured image courtesy of The Spire.
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