Letter from the Editor: The importance of conversations

In a time when everything is online working remotely should be easy. It should be easy to put together a paper from your house — but it’s not. 

While The Volante staff is lucky to have access to Adobe Indesign on our laptops, the ability to edit photos from our living rooms, access to the internet to keep our website up to date while working remotely, we miss our newsroom. 

We miss scheduling and recording interviews. We miss getting to know the Coyote community. While email and phone interviews are a great alternative in times like this, it’s not the same. 

We miss building connections with fellow students, professors, community members, coaches and everyone else. 

In a profession built on communication and conversations, we are struggling. We can tell stories from our home, but we are missing that community feeling. 

One of the greatest things about being a journalist in a small town is the connections you make. We miss those ties. 

I urge you if you are contacted by a reporter from The Volante or any news source, please respond. No, a phone interview isn’t the same as meeting in the MUC pit, but it is so much better than an email interview.

While email interviews are a great option and maybe all you can fit in your schedule — which we completely understand — we miss talking to you and learning your deeper story. 

We can’t ask how your day is going via email. We can’t build that relationship through a screen.

In a time of social distancing, we want to hear your voice. Journalists want to share your story, all we ask is that you make time for us to get to know you. 

Until we can be back on campus catching up in person, we should utilize the technology we have and keep communication a priority. It might be weird to talk to a reporter over the phone in your parents’ house, but what else are you doing? 

As always, The Volante does our best to stay in the know and tell the most relevant stories possible for the USD community. If you have a story idea, reach out to us on social media. We are the voice of the students; let your voice be heard.