Dear Reader,
A question we always ask our newly incoming members every semester is, “What is one thing that you think should change or improve about The KAIST Herald?” From an objective view — yes, this question has its purpose; it is a great way to get feedback from an individual in the community we are trying to influence about how far our activities are actually reaching or spark new ideas that could be implemented. But there is also a personal motive behind asking this question: to blur out my uncertainties over “Are we doing enough?” and “Are we doing well?”
As we celebrate The KAIST Herald’s 200th issue this month, perhaps it is time to step back from the busy publishing cycle and impending deadlines to really contemplate these questions.
A common answer to the how-should-The-KAIST-Herald-change question is engaging our readers. Sometimes, it is difficult to fathom just how much of an influence our paper is having. I meet some people hearing the name of our publication for the first time when I explain that I am part of the English newspaper club. Other people tell me that they’ve been following our Instagram account and reading our articles regularly. When we drop by our newspaper stands to distribute the newest issues each month, at times the previous months’ papers seem almost untouched; other times, not a single paper is left (in April, this makes me consider the possibility that they’ve been used as mats for strawberry parties). Over the past few years, we have been attempting to expand our readership beyond just international or hoogi undergraduate students, and to further expose KAISTians through outlets such as social media, freshman club fairs, interviews, and school-wide surveys. To a certain extent, I would say we have succeeded based on the absolute number of people I’ve seen familiar with the name “The KAIST Herald”, or the number of requests from KAIST staff contacting us to promote an initiative.
Fresh, ingenious ideas that would draw more readers do not come to mind like a snap of a finger — as much as I would love for them to. Looking through years worth of Herald archives in preparation for this month’s Feature elucidated this for me. Change was not made in an instant. Each issue, there were slight changes made. Grammatical mistakes were reduced. Illustrations were added. A new section emerged. Voices of non-Herald members were incorporated. Online means to connect with the paper were created. The same way we follow the divisions conceived by our seniors even at this moment in time, sticking to the convention is the starting point. Progress can be slow, but as long as we seek to improve, I believe we will be brought in the right direction.
Moreover, the most fascinating point in going through the archives was that the issues we find in our surrounding environment, the people in our community we find interesting and notable, and the opinions we provide a channel for amplification are not all that different, from our first issue to our 200th. We both consciously and subconsciously are building upon the foundations laid by Herald reporters before us — 200 months, 50 semesters, 25 years back.
On this note, I would like to thank all of The KAIST Herald members, past and current alike, for their thoughts and perspectives shared, their time and effort spent that makes our publication possible. I would also like to acknowledge our faculty advisor and our operations manager for supporting us through our activities. Finally, as always, I would like to thank our readers for being the motivation that propels us to move forward and the final endpoint of every issue we publish. Thank you for keeping The KAIST Herald alive.
Hae-Rim Kim
Editor-in-Chief