Frankly speaking, when I was volunteering as a newbie reporter of The Postech Times, I was careless and irresponsible. I definitely had merit in English skills accumulated during my four years of studying abroad in New Zealand, and I thought using this merit would enable me to maneuver into The Postech Times. The fact that I was a freshman at that time induced me to consistently seek for new activities that would bring changes in my life, without being aware of the responsibilities that lie beyond them.
Being a reporter in POSTECH is tough because you have to get yourself organized. Once you are a reporter, you have to attend the weekly meeting, and most importantly, write articles. The articles must be based on research, interviews, and even surveys, occasionally. In addition, you must keep up your studying, as a student. Since my high school days, I was confident with in a well-regulated life. However, my regular lifestyle got relaxed after graduating high school. I was not ready for the work load of dealing with studying and working as a reporter at the same time. I missed the due date of submitting articles, as frequently as twice a month, and struggled with getting good grades. My grades somewhat got better as I became a sophomore, but I was still a lazy reporter. I researched, interviewed and wrote articles because I was obliged to do so, by the editor of The Postech Times. I had heard and understood the hard work of being the editor, but I could not agree wholeheartedly, until just a few months.
As three student reporters consecutively left The Postech Times due to various reasons, I became the only student reporter remaining in the upcoming third grade. I was reluctantly nominated as the next editor, for the upcoming newspaper issue no.102 (Feb. 10). While Choi Jong-hyeok, the previous editor was still in charge of type setting of the article drafts, I did the rest of the work, such as organizing the meeting, planning article topics, and prodding the other reporters to write articles in time. Determined to get things organized and be a good editor, I consistently gave pressure to the fellow reporters to write articles in time, and I pushed them to make sure they had no mistakes with grammar, spelling, format, etc. However, the fellow reporters did not keep up with my determination. Rather, I received the articles from the reporters much after the due date, even compared to the time when Choi was the editor. The newspaper issue no.102 was completed just before the deadline, with a lot of pictures missing on the second page and blank spaces overall. I could suddenly feel the sense of exhaustion among the reporters to keep up with the work load. I was stressed about the fact that things were not going as I planned, and I brought myself to account for the mess. However, Choi saw things a bit differently. He said, “A good editor must wait for his fellow reporters to do their jobs, and not push them to their limits”. I always thought that Choi had an easygoing character, but now I see that he was doing his best in his own way. On behalf of the other reporters, I would like to deeply thank to Choi for his year of hard work.
As the editor of The Postech Times, I always hope that our newspaper is read by many people inside and outside of POSTECH. However, The Postech Times is currently not credited for having a large circulation of readers. There may be various reasons, including some generalizations such as the busy time schedule of POSTECH students and the underlying bias that reading English newspapers would require English skills beyond one’s ability. Some of the reasons are inevitable for English newspapers, but I personally believe that some of them are originated from the deficiency of The Postech Times. We need more dynamic articles. It is true that newspapers are supposed to deliver facts and information, but the problem lies in how. When I read The Postech Times, I can instantly feel that the articles are all written on desks. Professor Park Sang-joon, the former professor editor of POSTECH newspaper press, once said, “Articles are not written by hands, but by feet”. This means that reporters must visit many places and interview various kinds of people, so that they can write articles of unique and dynamic information. The personal opinions of prominent experts who are authoritative in their own specialties or the feelings of common people who are participating in candlelight rally cannot be researched through books or the internet. Because normal people cannot interview those kinds of people by themselves, reporters do this instead. This is why reporters write articles: to deliver vivid information.
Of course, writing vivid articles is not easy, especially for us. Prior to being reporters, we are students. The primary duty of students is to study. Then why are we reporters in the first place? Having to fulfill the duty as a student does not mean we are allowed to simply sit on our desks and write banal articles that can be found anywhere. As Prof. Park said, being able to meet celebrities and interview them is a huge privilege only allowed to reporters. I am cautious to say this, but as the new editor I will do my best to deliver more lively and interesting news.