Dear Readers,

The first thing I would like to do as Editor-in-Chief of the Cal State East Bay student newspaper is thank the previous editors I have worked with at The Pioneer: Shannon Stroud, Tiffany Jones and Yousuf Fahimuddin. I was able to learn things from them that allowed me to gain the valuable experience that was necessary for me to step into my new position.

My promise to our readers is to produce relevant, quality content for our print, online and social media platforms that go beyond the surface. We would like to make The Pioneer a go-to, credible source for all things East Bay and beyond. To accomplish this we’ve created a stringent editorial process to ensure that we will push the envelope when it comes to journalism, whether it is through words or visuals.

However, in order to do this we need your help.

I write this letter at a dire time for print journalism, which seems to be constantly shifting its focus to online and social media. This was made extremely evident on Monday when six local Bay Area newspapers merged into two, which resulted in a loss of more than 40 journalism jobs locally. So I urge you to let us know what you want covered. Help us produce the content you want to see by contacting us via email, phone, or in person at our pitch meetings every Monday at 4 p.m., which are open to anybody who wants to contribute.

We want to be a voice for the community and cover things that are happening now and affecting East Bay communities and citizens. I encourage any and all of you to let us know how we are doing so we can continue to progress as a publication and an organization.

Outreach and inclusion will be a huge part of the focus from our new leadership at The Pioneer. Every Thursday when our print issue comes out, make sure to look for The Pioneer Newspaper table on our Hayward campus. This will give us vital connections and input from students, faculty and staff that we hope will eventually develop into relationships that can increase the value of our content.

If you can’t attend our meetings, I encourage you to reach out to us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram so we can get feedback on what you want to see. We will continue to progress online as well by producing more videos and informational visual content to accompany well-reported stories. Help us stay on top of all things East Bay so we can continue to provide you with high quality journalism. Thank you for your time and support.

Sincerely,

Louis LaVenture