Heavens above, the reign of terror has started. Gone are the days when towering Comment editors who believed in cutouts ruled the roost. One former Comment editor recently claimed to be the executive editor of Comment, perusing and stalking it like an old hand, weary with life, pointing at problems with his cane. We find these claims to be unfounded. Those greying hacks are in the past now and it's time for the first print edition of the new academic year. It comes with a new and fresh team of editors, editors who live with a bit of joie de vivre, editors who thrive off the zest of Comment, editors with verve.
Now, now, I hear you say, it is week 11, the days feel curt or flat, we’ve got exams after Christmas, we don’t have time for your pontifications on the treatise of life right now. By this time you’ve probably fallen out with your flatmates, my guess is, in week six, failed to do all your formatives during week eight, and spent far too much money on formals by week ten. I promise you, I understand.
As I write this I am unfortunately completing all these things. I haven’t helped myself, I should mention, as this year I set myself the mammoth task of completing not only Nouse but also Muse Bingo, which I am told nobody has ever achieved in the space of one year. This has created an interminable hellscape as each article stacks on top of another like fat bloating pancakes. I can only apologise to my fellow exhausted section editors whom I’ve terrorised with my writing, and splattered across this newspaper. A special thanks to the Creative Writing team who’ve had to read my fatuous and painful attempt at a short story.
Enough about me, as you can tell I’m doing great, and more about this section. It genuinely couldn’t have been possible without the fantastic help of my inspired co-workers and our fabulous set of writers, all of whom seem to be doing significantly better than my haggard, hollow-cheeked self.
Leading the section is Millie Simon, who writes about the dangers of misinformation on Israel-Palestine and York’s vigil for the conflict. On page ten, next to this ungodly mess, is a co-written piece by Ethan Attwood and Nouse’s Deputy Editor, Nadia Sayed. They look at pressures going into and resulting from post-grad life. Following is Heather Gosling’s illuminating piece on the gender gap within journalism and Comment’s better half, Maya Upmacis, writes about the veneer of goofy politicians.
You’re then graced by my presence on page 12 with a hard hitting piece of journalism on why I don’t particularly like Tinder despite never having once opened the app. My Amuse-Bouche of an article stands above something distinctly more serious and well-written with Georgina Spriddell’s take on whether traditional diplomacy still has a place in 2023.
Finally on page 13 there’s Ellie Banyard tackling bouncer culture and how we got to this stage. Also as a fun special in our gossip side column –former editors look away now– we have tales from the party conferences with a double header from Jacob Boheman and Max Abdulgani. They reflect on their experiences at their respective conferences, key events and what’s the state of the parties heading into the election.
Its been a bit of a rollercoaster getting to grips with Comment as my first print-edition in charge but I couldn’t have done it without the stellar work of the rest of the Comment team and the higher-ups, Orla and Nadia, who’ve never failed to help when we’ve needed them.
