Lake Villa's Cain to serve as editor in chief for The Courier, Monmouth College's student newspaper

by Barry McNamara

Monmouth, Ill. (06/08/2023) — The names on the masthead of Monmouth College's student newspaper will be different next fall, but the main objective will still be the same, said The Courier's adviser, communication studies faculty member Chris Goble, who also advises MC-TV and the College radio station, WPFS-FM (105.9).

"Building on the great work this past semester, The Courier can continue to be a source for students to better understand what is happening on campus," said Goble.

Emilie Cain '24 of Lake Villa, Illinois, will serve as editor in chief of the paper for the 2023-24 academic year, assisted by news and opinion editor Karli Strom '24 of Monmouth, features editor Mia Martino '24 of Palatine, Illinois, sports editor Lydia Perez '24 of Galesburg, Illinois, and copy editor Dawsyn Wilson '26 of Portland, Oregon.

"My plans right now for The Courier are to continue to make it a welcoming environment," said Cain, a communication studies with minors in journalism and media who served the past year as the paper's news and opinions editor. "I think (previous editor and May graduate) Lena Wickens did an excellent job at making The Courier an organization that people wanted to be a part of, and I hope to do the same."

Other students in editor or manager positions are music/Mixtapes editor Elena Fry-Hernandez '26 of East Moline, Illinois; website and social media manager Izzy Gimm '24 of Liberty, Illinois; photo and graphics managers Elikem Ogba '23 of London, England (fall semester) and Sanaia Jenkins '25 of University Park, Illinois (spring semester); and distributions manager Eli Douglass '24 of Cary, Illinois.

"This new group has exciting ideas to grow the paper," said Goble. "Last semester, we started the 'Monmouth Mixtapes' as a way students could share what they are listening to. Next year, in partnership with WPFS, we will launch 'Mixtapes' as a weekly podcast with the newly created music editor hosting."

Also, social media video was piloted to promote the paper and, in the year ahead, the social media manager will work with students in the media practicum courses to plan and produce a weekly video newscast of The Courier to inform the community.

"With shrinking local news and so much misinformation, the student newspaper is a trusted source for the campus community," said Goble. "These students have committed themselves to providing a service to the College community, all while learning how to be credible journalists."