Over the summer, we sent a survey to the Trinity community to gauge a variety of concerns. We wanted to hear straight from our readers how they perceived the Trinitonian — if they felt our stories were diverse enough among other things — and gave them the option to address any other concerns they had about our paper and how we run it.

We are aware that the Trinitonian has developed a particular reputation. From the survey, we found that a significant number of the respondents consider the Trinitonian as a “gotcha” news source, one-sided, and closed off to responses and feedback. We understand that with our editorship comes the weight of what we’ve written about in the past. It’s perfectly valid to inquire about our intentions and inclusivity when we’ve written left-leaning opinions in the past. Does this mean we’re only going to publish left-leaning material because we want the Trinitonian to be some left-wing paper? Of course not. Being an opinion columnist means getting to share your opinions as an individual while being an editor means we put our politics aside and ensure our paper is representative of the people who are in our community. While it’s only expected people refer to our past columns to try to paint a picture of how we’re going to run our paper, we think it’s important you know that we have every intention of being inclusive of all voices, whether we agree with them on a personal level or not.

We are a student-run publication and will always strive to be better. It’s important to note that past experiences with the Trinitonian, while important to address and talk about, are just that — in the past. We lose staff, gain staff and get new executive editors every year. Hold us accountable, but recognize that our collective of students is always in flux. We grow, we learn, and we develop into better reporters, photographers and editors.

Thank you for the constructive criticism. We hear you. We know there’s work to be done. Hold us accountable, disagree with us, and remember that we want to hear from you. Write a letter to the editor, submit a guest piece, let us know when you appreciate how a story is covered. If you feel the Trinitonian is lacking a certain perspective, please be that voice. Contribute and interact with our long-standing community paper.

It is a difficult job to run the Trinitonian when we’re all so far apart, but we hope our physical distance doesn’t discourage you from letting us know what you think. We hope our improvements are tangible and that our readers can respect the hustle. That’s what this is. A hustle on top of school, on top of our other commitments and on top of the craziness that is our current world. We love what we do, and we love hearing from our readers too. So talk to us, interact with our social media, let us know where you stand and where you want to see improvements.