If you are reading this then there is a good chance you know who we are but if you don’t… we are The Daily Eastern News, Eastern’s student-run newspaper. We have been fortunate enough to still continue producing a print product and are one of a few Illinois state institutions who still print. All content is thought of, produced by, and published by students (like you).

The News covers a wide variety of things on and off campus that pertains to our main audience, Eastern and its students. 

In years past we have had a small-but-mighty staff, and luckly this year we are starting out with the biggest initial staff in the last three years of around 25 individuals. 

While most of us and a fraction of our audience love the print edition, papers aren’t being picked up as much anymore. We wanted to transition away from thinking print first and online second. 

This year, we are realigning our focus to online storytelling and content. We won’t be strictly doing themed weekly editions anymore, but rather developed stories to lead the page, some themed story packages and the best stories from the week.

Most students get their news online and on their phones. So what do we do? Adapt.

We have seen a drastic increase of engagement on our Instagram from students over the last year and a half, totaling to a little over 1,600 followers. In light of this surge in visibility, we will be making a heavy push toward a total re-brand on Instagram and other social media.

One more new change is we are bringing back our weekly newsletter. Our idea is to give the audience a way to get a summary of the most important stories from the week in a quick five minutes whether that be through words or audio. 

With all these changes, we would like to extend an invitation to our new and returning readers about the opportunities available to you.

The News is open to students of any major and year in school. We are always looking for students to bring fresh talent and ideas to the paper. Some of the positions we have are news and sports reporters, opinion columnists, photographers, podcasters, videographers, and cartoonists. Whatever your interest is we can find you a place for us.

If this has piqued your interest, please don’t hesitate to stop by the newsroom in room 1811 in Buzzard Hall, contact us on our socials or call us at 581-2812.

One piece of information to leave you with is while some of us treat this as a full-time job, please remember we are still students taking classes and juggling all college throws at us. 

As students we are going to make mistakes, the only downside is our homework is on display to the general public. So we ask you to allow us breathing room to address failures and learn from them. 

The Editorial Board can be reached at 581-2812.