Nine years in, examining how we do things

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COVER:

“MONTERO Lil Nas X” by Laura Iseley

Design by Aiden Siobhan e’ve been thinking a lot about how and why we do things around here. As we approach our 9-year anniversary this weekend (Feb. 26), we’re looking back at our legacy of almost a decade of journalism while imagining another 10 years into the future.

WEvery week, every issue we put out, we strive for the best. But as Brian likes to say, “I don’t think I’ve ever put out a perfect paper.”

And that’s because it probably doesn’t exist.

by Sayaka Matsuoka

There’s likely a small typo, or a widow or an orphan lingering on a page somewhere. There’s maybe a misaligned photo or an extra space between two words.

But we always strive to do our best.

In the past nine years, TCB as an institution has come a long way. I’ve learned a lot from just the last five years of returning to work here.

As a whole, we’ve learned some hard lessons about privilege, language and how to tell sensitive stories. We’ve changed policies like not running mugshots and making sure to ask all sources for their pronouns. We’ve worked to diversify our writers so they more closely reflect our community.

And we’re still working at it.

Because contrary to some people’s belief, we’re not in it for the money. We’re not in it for the fame. So what does that leave us? A sense of pride and contentment that comes with putting out a good product week to week, full of stories that introduce readers to new communities, enlighten them about systemic inequalities or key them in on an unknown hole-in-the-wall or up-and-coming artist. Stories that bring readers closer to their community.

“All killer, no filler,” as Brian puts it. Because who has time for anything else?