Dear reader,

The recommended theme for discussion this week was balance and how to cope. This is, unfortunately, not the best time of year to write about this. The BAHons Journalism class oscillates between hyper-focused screen hypnosis and distracted gossip sessions about American celebrities. Neither of these states are serving our mental health very well.

The documentary filming phase has gradually given way to editing, which is, as expected, extremely challenging. It is also slightly maddening to listen to the same sound bites over and over. Other than this, the most unanimous struggle is cutting all the footage down to the 10-minute short film time limit. It feels a bit like a disservice to the people that we filmed, who gave us their time and backstories, to have so much of it not make the final cut. The sagely advice we keep repeating is “kill your darlings”, but this is turning out to be emotionally difficult. 

While we are grappling with the editing process, we are also being haunted by the looming pressure of the in-depth project. I have heard tales of students waking up in cold sweats, terrified of all the mounting expectations. “In-depth” has become somewhat of a taboo, a forbidden topic of conversation. We have employed the classic coping mechanism of not acknowledging the injury. 

To be civil, I will blame the morose atmosphere in the newsroom on the weather. I cannot logically attribute it to anything else – we all signed up to be here, after all. We have all worked incredibly hard to make it to this point. To complain is to indulge in self-pity. I would like to remind everyone about the art of gratitude, but this is a tad hypocritical coming from me. Most of this letter has been an artfully disguised complaint. 

I apologise for the momentary lapse in positivity. The sun is coming out soon, so next week will definitely be better.

Anke Spies, newsletter editor.

/

/

/

/

/

/