My heart pounded as I hit publish. And with one click, many months of work from two brave reporters, the previous editor-in-chief, and myself had come to an end.
I watched later as our tweet spread like wildfire. People read, reacted, and retweeted before my eyes. Our investigation into alleged misconduct by a professor showcased not only how good our journalism could be, but also how far it could reach. We reached a national audience; that kind of reach is powerful.
Since that piece, we’ve continued to publish hard-hitting journalism — and we’ve continued to expand our digital presence. Every time I see the graphic design of the Black Futures website or the behind-the-scenes work of our content strategy team, I’m reminded of just how much we are capable of in a digital world.
We’ve come a long way since shifting online in March 2020; we’ve grown as an organization, added many new sections, improved our site, and launched countless web projects. We are bigger and better than ever before.
With the pandemic shifting the ‘Prince’ to the virtual space, we can build on this momentum and more fully embrace our online presence. Rather than pouring resources into daily print, we will be moving to a digital model with weekly print. The ‘Prince’ will focus on reaching our stories beyond campus, to cover students and administration and the greater world they influence. As a “digital first” organization, we have no ceiling, and we are no longer confined to the daily printer deadline.
With that said, we recognize the joys of broadsheet — the feeling of a print paper in your hands, of doing crosswords with friends, of discussing current events over breakfast. You can still get that, every Friday morning, from the ‘Prince.’
This issue will cover the week in-depth, giving readers a chance to take in the longer-form content they may have missed, to do the crosswords over breakfast, or to see the work of our photographers artfully arranged.
Readers, we are thrilled to present this new print product, and we are just as thrilled to push the limits of speed and quality in our online journalism, the hub of our paper. Join us in continuing to cover the crucial stories of this campus, for a readership broader than just the physical residents of Princeton. As campus changes drastically, the ‘Prince’ is changing, too, and we are excited to be taking this crucial step as journalists.
Emma Treadway is editor-in-chief of The Daily Princetonian. She can be reached at eic@dailyprincetonian.com.
