Normally in this space, you’ll find content written to the editorial staff of this newspaper. For our first issue, however, I felt it was important that you, our reader, hear from me.

For the past few years, the Signal has come under fire for a wide range of issues. These issues range from significant amounts of typographical errors and disproportionate images (or image-stretching) to factually inaccurate reporting.

To those readers who have voiced their concerns with the Signal over the past few years, please note that I’ve been one of the most outspoken critics of the Signal.

I served with the Signal from January-October 2006 as the Associate News Editor. When I joined the newspaper, I hoped to continue learning about the running of a newspaper as I had during high school.

I left ten months later defeated, feeling that my own reputation as a writer had lost significant credibility due to my association with a paper that, by my admittedly high standards, was well below sub-par in its organization.

When I left, I swore to myself that the only way I could possibly see myself returning to the staff of the Signal was as the Editor in Chief.

Well…

A year and a half later, with the staff of the paper out and the search for a new Editor in Chief taking place, I felt it was time to put my money where my mouth was, so to speak. I accepted the job in August, and my time since then has consisted of hiring the rest of the staff of this paper, meeting with various higher-ups on campus, dealing with advertisers, and working on shaping the direction of both the Signal and the Urbanite, our arts and entertainment magazine.

With the Signal, we’re working on tightening up the layout of the paper. For our returning students, you’ll notice the redesign of the paper towards what we feel is a cleaner, more aesthetically pleasing feel.

We’re also working on tightening up the content of the Signal. While each section of the Signal will feature content relevant to the city of Atlanta, our ultimate goal in terms of content is to provide our reading base information for what’s occurring on campus.

For those readers concerned about accuracy in regards to our stories, please know that we are working to ensure that every article written in the Signal is factually accurate. If you find something that you know is not accurate, don’t hesitate to let us know. 

With the Urbanite, the Georgia State community will find more instantly noticeable changes. The Urbanite, which is currently scheduled for release in November, is officially shifting over to a monthly publication format. In part because of this change, we’re also adjusting the number of pages, the size of the publication, and the quality of the formatting.

The focus of the Urbanite will also change slightly. The Urbanite will still cover arts and entertainment, as well as politics, opinions, and other human interest stories, but the Urbanite will begin to focus more on the world outside of Georgia State – from a unique Georgia State perspective, of course. 

With all of these changes, I do feel it’s my duty to say to you, our reader, that we are far from being a perfect staff (though I do have my confidence in the staff we’ve assembled so far). There are chances you might still find a typographical error in the paper. My goal is that you won’t be able to play the game my friends and I have played of finding twenty errors in the Signal – and being able to find them without turning a page.

Since we have brought in an entirely new staff, though, for the first time in three years, I do ask that you give us a few weeks to find our footing. If you see any problems, tell us – or, better yet, if you (like several of our new staff members) had significant critiques of the Signal in years past, consider coming on board in some capacity. 

Regardless of whether or not you have any major criticisms of our student newspaper, though, I hope that you, our reader, find the Signal and Urbanite to be especially engaging this year.

Sincerely,

Elijah Sarkesian
Editor in Chief
The Signal/Urbanite