Flyer News Editor-in-Chief’s introductory letter

Readers,

Hello! Yes, you there! Thank you for taking the time to read this article. It’s my goal – and the article’s too – to better introduce myself as Editor-in-Chief of Flyer News for 2026-27. So, enjoy!

To start, I’m Patrick Jones, and here’s an ice breaker introduction I’d give if you asked me to share a handful of basic things about myself, you know, to break ice:

I grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, having moved from the greater Chicago area when I was ten. I love a handful of hobbies: playing the guitar, reading or collecting comics and literature, then lastly, listening to or collecting vinyl. I, also, have a wonderful girlfriend and a handful of people at UD I’m lucky enough to call my best friends. I have a mom and dad back home in Nashville, a brother in New Orleans, and a sister in Dublin, Georgia (not that anyone knows where that is). 

For each member of my family there’s also a dog in the house. When dogs exceed the human population of a house they reach a newfound level of annoyance that even the thought of them, the 600 miles away that I am, can have you starting to say “DOWN!” I do really like our cat though. Her name is Sassy. But anyway, I think that about does it for any ice breaking.

And then here’s the part that is a bit more insightful to my Flyer News and personal aspirations:

As I write this, it is the summer before my last year as a Flyer. This will not be smeared with cliches of sadness and oh my gosh it’s my last year-ses. To be honest, I can’t wait to graduate. I look forward to the infinite horizons of life after college more than I have ever looked forward to the finite horizon that is college (at least how I’ve thought of it). Regardless, there is one thing I am most excited for in my last year: being the Editor-in-Chief of this paper. 

In a non-hobby sense, there are three things I value down to my deepest core: virtue, leading and writing. And what do you know? This position combines the three and beautifully so. 

With virtue, I believe there is right and wrong in this world. I believe as a person, and furthermore as a journalist, it is my responsibility to be a bastion of what is right and to be an unmasker of what is wrong. If we are not an informed republic we are not much of a republic to start with. While this may sound dramatic given the nature of what my peers and I report on, that is beside the point. Even if lives are not in danger or jobs are not at stake or any other example of a heavier thing you could think of; maintaining virtue and a golden standard of truth is invaluable.

With leading, it’s always been what I’ve gravitated to doing or being. I am at my most comfortable when I am in the driver’s seat, and whether that be flaw or not, just know it’s not! Nonetheless, leading others is interwoven with my value of virtue. It would be wrong of me to be unwilling to share personal experiences with others facing similar challenges that, I too, have faced. Simply put: I just want to leave things better off than how I found them.

Then there’s writing, I like writing as much as anyone else, I suppose. It’s an excellent means of communication but damn, it sure is hard. Damn, it sure is time consuming. And damn, does it drive me to the point of wanting to never do it again. But, you know what? It sure is a perfect medium. The fact that with nothing but ink and paper you have all you need to tell endless stories that will exist as long as the paper does. And beyond permanence or simplicity, it just never gets stagnant. Every gosh darn thing you write will be different from the last. That may be due to your purpose, your mood, or whatever you want to blame it on. But that fact remains true. That quality of difference also makes it a challenge. And that, that means it never gets boring. And that prior sentence alone is good enough for me. 

And now, enough about me, it’s Flyer News talk from here on out, in year’s past there have been some immensely talented editors and writers come through. Given they graduated before I even thought about college, I never had the pleasure of meeting but a few. I guess if the folk are writing for publications like the Boston Globe or the Chicago Tribune that it ought to be likely they’re pretty talented. But, nonetheless, Flyer News has ebbed and flowed from year to year. There’s been a lack of carry over as editorial staff change. Some staffs have had high quality e-newspapers, stories and multimedia content coming out daily. Then others have maybe posted a story or two every other week, still at a high quality, nonetheless. 

My point in making this known is to ultimately say: this ebbing and flowing of year’s past stops with this staff.

I full heartedly plan on setting up Flyer News for success year after year. From now until the keyboard ceases to exist. 

With that, there are big changes already in the works, ones I’m not quite at liberty to share just yet. “Big changes” aside, these are the handful of things that are guaranteed to be different:

The first, is the consistency of posting. Our goal is to build our way to a point where we are consistently releasing five articles a week. At the minimum, there will be one article every single week, whether class be in session or not. We’d, also, like to bolster our multimedia content output by leaning into podcast production and also all of the talented photographers on campus for more photo stories.

Next, there will be better coverage of breaking news (I suppose “better” would also just be breaking news coverage existing at all, but I digress). While everyone appreciates that oh-so timely and informative Melinda Warthman email, it is imperative we give our audience the student perspective, and give you that perspective fast. It’s us students that experience the events that warrant breaking news for our campus. And as student journalists we have a responsibility to uphold a standard of information to keep our readers the informed republic we want all of us – students, faculty and staff – to be.

And honestly, with that being said (and the changes that are to be announced soon) that’s all I got for y’all. I know me and all of the Flyer News staff are beyond excited for what’s to come this year. It will be a year of growth, and with growth comes inevitable change. I assure you any change we make as a staff will only propel Flyer News to new heights. For this year and for all the years to come.

With honest regards,

Patrick Jones

p.s. Further introductory articles and personal interest stories are coming from the FN staff throughout the Summer on a weekly basis. Also, come meet me and other staff at Up the Orgs, which has an unconfirmed date as of today, but nonetheless, come out to learn more about FN.