Readers would most likely agree that even articles have trends. Reporters scavenge for new issues, but as writings reflect the society it is hard not writing about overlapping contents. Last year when COVID-19 brought a halt in people’s lives, most editorials were written about writers’ overwhelming feelings confronting the chaos. New concepts such as “corona blues,” “Zoom parties” started to appear as people created new lifestyles during the pandemic. As they started to adapt to new changes, editorials started carrying different contents. Near the end of 2020 and the start of 2021, writings that emphasized the importance of routines were frequently seen. Rather than to only pout about the repercussions the pandemic brought, people found ways to accept the reality and design new lifestyles. Many psychiatrists and novelists mentioned how crucial it is to maintain personal routines when online activities are so prevalent in order to prevent procrastination as well as overworking. Since routines require people to repeat similar acts, their benefit is that they keep people feel settled and even more comfortable.
All in all, I too was quite persuaded by this need for “routine” in daily lives and the pandemic. However, my thoughts started to change as the publication of Ewha Voice began. Like any other newspapers, Ewha Voice too has its own routines which help reporters be punctual and challenged. Routines also require reporters and photographers to bring an “appropriate” topic for the section, fill in the “assigned” words, and use just the “right” number of photos. Routines also functioned as implicit rules when publishing each volume. And yet the important question is this – are these routines really helping us to write articles that readers would appreciate? Or are they working as firm boxes that hinder us from thinking more efficiently and creatively?
This question has always been the elephant in the room for Ewha Voice. As Youtube and many other digital platforms are replacing what journalism did, like other newspapers, it has become more important for Ewha Voice to break the routine that has been fixed for several years. Routines did give us guidance to publish volumes biweekly without major problems, but at the same time we were not able to fix the problems the routines carried itself. Breaking free from unhelpful habits is always a task, but from this year we are preparing to make gradual changes – new routines that would help Ewha Voice keep up with the flood of visually striking contents. Shorter yet more aesthetic posts on Instagram introducing articles and tips on English phrases will be presented. Moreover, we hope to engage more readers to have a say in Ewha’s platform for students comfortable with English. With the application opened for SYO, which is the students’ opinion section in the newspaper, our distant hope is to have more avid student contributors.
To make this all possible, our job is to make Ewha Voice want to be read. This transition can only be feasible through breaking inefficient routines. However gradual it may be, we are taking baby steps for new routines in 2021.