A small bit of nail-chomping.

I’ve been thinking pretty hard this past week or so about the style of management I’m going to take in regards to the paper. I’d initially figured I’d be filling Luke and Bob’s shoes: being the face and front of the newspaper, rubbing elbows with the [relative] bigwigs, becoming famous. Because Luke and Bob are famous on this campus. When there’s a difficult interview or meeting to handle, they’ve always been right in front, making it known that the Thorn Was There.

I don’t see that as my job as Editor-in-Chief. I don’t care if my name is reknown on campus–all that means is that more people are likely to mispronounce it and annoy me.

My job isn’t to grandstand or showboat or throw my weight (such as it is) around except where it is absolutely necessary. Right now, I see my job as the force that brings the sections and people together into a paper–manage the money, the paper-signing, the pizza-acquiring, and (most importantly) stand behind my staff 100%.

Is that leading “from behind” instead of taking the charge? Maybe. But I have a news editor who’s more active in getting his name out than I ever was, and I see no reason to undercut his presence with the shadow that is mine. My opinions, entertainment, and humor editors are autonomous but not dissociated from the inner workings of the paper–I don’t need to micromanage their sections; I provide suggestions, maybe a little technical (layout) cleanup, and back them up when the tough times come along.

Bob moved much more into this type of role this past year, and although both he and Luke were fairly absent this academic year, Bob was always as supportive and politely corrective as he could be.

Still, though, Luke and Bob were the paper. When people said “Thorn”, they thought of Bob and Luke, or Bluke as I call them.

Maybe I need to grow into it, but I am not yet the newspaper. I don’t know that a single face should be.

Maybe I’ll hurt the newspaper by not being a forceful spearhead, by not being the presence that Bluke was. Maybe that face is necessary to sell the good intentions of the paper.

Then again, maybe I just think/worry too much.