We pride ourselves on being an editorially independent newspaper. We are truly fortunate to call ourselves that, and it is the main reason we are able to consistently deliver the level of content that we produce on a weekly basis.

We are an entirely student-run media organization. We, the students, decide what content gets written and what content goes to print. We thoroughly research, write and edit, oftentimes into the wee hours of the night, because we are passionate about not only this paper, but about the principles of journalism and the important impact that reporting and storytelling have on this community.

With this editorial independence, we have been able to win multiple prestigious awards over the years, including Golden Quills, Keystone Media awards and Mark of Excellence awards from the Society of Professional Journalists — and last year, as an organization, we won the highly esteemed honor of Best All-Around Student Newspaper for our region. While we consider all of these awards to be an honor, the biggest honor of all is seeing our hard work in print week after week, knowing that we have not only delivered quality content but have done so ethically and with our expert judgment. And we feel even more fulfilled as journalists and members of this organization when fellow Pioneers tell us how much they appreciate the articles we put out each week.

Journalism is all about transparency, and we apply that to everything we do. When coffee columnist Jake Dabkowski reviews a coffee shop, he pays for that coffee with his own money. He does not tell the coffee shops who he is, because he does not want any special treatment. He wants to review their coffee fairly. Likewise, when music columnist Zac Wittman reviews an album, he doesn’t reach out to the band for a free copy, or for any sort of special acknowledgement. He listens to the album on Spotify just like everybody else, so that he can critique it with an open mind.

Most importantly, whenever anyone writes a news story, whether it’s the Editor-In-Chief or just someone contributing, they get the full, unbiased story. We take great pride in our standards, which are available on our website, and enforce them strictly.

Without these standards, and without our editorial independence, there would be no reason to have this newspaper. There would be no way for our readers to know that they can trust the information that we are publishing. And without the ability to operate like a professional outlet, The Globe would be a shadow of the publication it is today.

Ultimately, The Globe is run by students for students. And as long as we keep spinning, we will keep on telling the stories you need to know.