By Shira Kramer, Managing Editor
“What is the difference between the two newspapers?”
People ask me this question quite often, and I hate to admit that it bothers me. It makes me feel like I have to put on my public relations face and deliver a canned answer. “Well, we are the voice of the students,” I respond proudly.
The truth is that most college campuses have more than one newspaper. In fact, even Yeshiva University has more than two news outlets. For example, The Breather is a publication created in 2023 to be a voice for student mental health challenges. And, this past year, The Outsider was created as a broadcast media outlet for students.
In this day and age, there is a lack of good quality journalism in mainstream media. I feel threatened everytime I tell somebody that I’m studying journalism and they wish me good luck. I feel threatened everytime I open the news tab in Google and find ridiculous headlines.
Good, healthy journalism is hard to come by these days. Everyone has a bias and a motive. No singular outlet is trusted by all people. When I first started my position as an editor at the YU Observer, I didn’t realize that we didn’t have a news section. I simply wanted to work on a paper, and the YU Observer was the first one I saw.
Some people think our lack of a news section is odd. I would argue that it allows us to focus on sharing student voices, as stated in our mission statement. Our “About” page clearly states that “the YU Observer’s primary mission is to serve as the voice of the students, providing a space where everyone can speak up and raise awareness upon issues that they are passionate about.”
Our features section is where we highlight students who take initiative and get involved in events around campus or investigate injustice at our school. This year, students have traveled to Washington, acted in plays and created new clubs, and the features section spotlighted it all.
In arts and culture, students provide insight into their favorite creative outlets and share suggestions about their favorite books to read or movies to watch with others. In 2025 alone, students have challenged modern-day music, read countless books and visited exhibits all over the city. The arts and culture section allows students to experience these things through the eyes of their peers.
Science and technology is where students can keep up to date on modern inventions or cutting-edge research. This section explores nature, the food industry and even student research. Through the business section, students dive into understanding the economy of Manhattan and investigate Kosher restaurants. This year, students have exposed restaurants around our campuses and taken a closer look at grocery prices and artificial intelligence.
But our most prized section is where student voices truly shine: opinions. Every student on campus has an opinion about something they are passionate about. Opinions is the place where students make their voices heard. Throughout the academic year, students have fought injustices in YU and created undeniable change through the singular act of speaking out in this section.
Each of our sections encourage students to learn something new about themselves and the community around them. That is what good, healthy journalism on campus is all about. If we were so focused on news, we would risk missing the real story. Journalism is about more than just what can be found in a press release. It is about diving deep into how real people feel.
Political news organizations might be making a mockery of themselves on the world stage, but at YU, we have an outlet that we can trust in the YU Observer. As next year’s editor-in-chief, my goal is to ensure that every student on campus knows that they can come to us to make their voice heard. With our five different sections, every student can find a place at the YU Observer.
We are a platform by the students, for the students. That is one thing I can promise you will never change.