After nearly four years of being digital only, the Setonian is returning to print.
For 96 years, the Setonian printed weekly, and was left in stands around campus for staff and students to pick up and read. However, that all changed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
With no one on campus due to the pandemic, the editorial board at the time voted for the paper to go fully digital, ending the years-long tradition of a printed newspaper. The budget for the Setonian shifted from being used for print copies to creating a new and improved website.
Current editor-in-chief Emma Thumann believes that the switch to digital caused a decrease in student engagement with the paper.
“People had no idea that our website existed,” said Thumann, a senior journalism major. “They had no idea that we just stopped printing, that we still exist.”
Bruce “B.J.” Schecter has been a faculty advisor of the Setonian since 2017 and says he saw a decrease in student engagement even before the pandemic.
“Even before COVID, over time, people were not picking up the physical editions of the paper,” Schecter said. “It was really a waste of money.”
He found that the biggest challenge was not audience engagement, but staff engagement.
“I think the biggest challenge as the advisor was more in the writers and reporters and editors,” Schecter said, “To create that sense of urgency.”
With a decline in the number of journalism staff and students, the Setonian is struggling to find writers and editors.
Thumann said she believes that bringing back a print copy will be able to unite the journalism community at Seton Hall. She reminisced on her time doing layout for her high school paper, the Fanscotian at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in Scotch Plains, N.J., and expressed her desire to bring that work ethic and style to the Setonian.
“I really did enjoy the late nights we would spend laying out the articles,” Thumann said.
She also considered the nostalgic aspect of printing a physical copy of the Setonian.
“A lot of people like to hold the newspaper,” Thumann said. “Some people collect them. I personally like to collect them when I can.”
Both Thumann and Schecter hope to make an evergreen product, a newspaper without time-sensitive stories.
“For example, when we do a monthly print in December, it would be about holidays,” Thumann said.
The digital edition would still exist and be useful when breaking news stories need to be released. The print copy would serve to share stories that do not have a limited time frame.
With approval from the Division of Student Services, the Setonian can return to print as soon as this June.
Copies of the Centennial Edition will be handed out at a Setonian event on June 8 celebrating its 100-year anniversary.
Thumann and Schecter plan to restart the regular printing process in the Fall 2024 semester. Thumann will be graduating in May 2024, but said she hopes that the Setonian will thrive and grow with the return of printing.
“I hope it just kind of brings back what the Setonian’s been doing for almost a hundred years,” Thumann said. “I think it would just be something that the Seton Hall community would like to see.”
Megan Brush is a writer for the Setonian’s News section. She can be reached at megan.brush@student.shu.edu.
