When I told my first grade teacher that I wanted to be a storyteller when I grew up, I was thinking in terms of the/about writing the sorts of fairytales we’d read during storytime. Some 15 years later, while I don’t have any fictional works under my belt, I’d still consider myself a storyteller. (I did do a brief stint in writing Avengers fanfiction in middle school; no, I won’t elaborate, but you might be able to bribe me with a coffee).
A quick Google search of the word “story” results in myriad definitions, but most of them include three key words: “narrative,” “events,” and “people.” I don’t think that many people associate “news” with “stories,” and I can think of a few reasons why.
With the 24-hour news cycle, and its abilities to allow pieces of stories to be released bit by bit, it can become difficult to follow a cohesive narrative. Alternatively, the 24-hour news cycle can burn us out to the point of not wanting to follow along at all.
A lot of news can also feel like it’s missing that “people” aspect in a “story.” The everyday understanding of the principle of “objectivity”—the notion that news is devoid of bias—masks the fact that different journalists convey different narratives through their reporting because we all have unique lived experience. And let’s not forget about strategic uses of passive voice that serve to obfuscate actors in a story and shift the focus from “people doing actions” to “actions occurring.”
Despite all these criticisms, storytelling is at the heart of journalism—especially the types of slow journalism that The Strand aims to produce. As the editor of this newspaper, I consider my job to literally be to help people tell stories.
Welcome to issue four of The Strand; allow me to tell you about the stories you can find within these pages. In News, Roy Shi examines the impacts of equity initiatives at Vic. In Opinions, Gabriel Sanchez-Ortega discusses how “the underground man” has been transported from the pages of a Dostoevsky novel to our society. Elaine Lee delves into her journey to unlearn internalized racism in this issue’s Feature. In Science, Albert Cheng sheds light on why the principle of replication is becoming increasingly difficult to observe in academic papers. In Arts and Culture, Corinne Langmuir lists spots around the city that you’ve probably seen on the screen and can actually visit. And in Stranded, Fabiha Saddat breaks down the phenomenon of “shower thoughts.”
And if you would like to share a story of your own, The Strand invites you to pitch one for our fall magazine, CAKE. Personal and creative essays, interviews or profiles, poetry, prose, short fiction, longform or literary journalism, artwork, comics, and photo essays on this theme are all welcomed. Any and all interpretations of the theme are encouraged. Pitches of a few sentences with an estimated word count and visual request, and/or any other inquiries, can be sent to [email protected] until October 15.
