Get To Know The Editor
Hello! I’m Katie Littlefield and I’m this year’s appointed editor-in-chief of LBCC’s award-winning newspaper, The Commuter. When I first started my journalism degree at Linn-Benton Community College a year ago, I never would have guessed I’d soon get to experience this exciting yet challenging role.
Journalism plays an important role in our society from sharing news accurately to bringing our communities closer together. At The Commuter we strive to share with our readers accurate, meaningful, and community-oriented stories in each edition and online.
During my Fall Term last year, I originally found out about The Commuter newspaper during Rob Priewe’s photojournalism class. The editor-in-chief at the time, Caleb Barber, would come into class often to encourage our involvement whilst showing off that week’s newspaper edition. I explored it further and found that it was a fluorescent lit office space full of intelligent, funny and creative people. They wrote stories, covered breaking news, and took amazing photos. I mean, what was not to love?
Editing and writing stories every week inspired me to get involved with our community here at LBCC. It gave me a way to explore clubs on campus and meet interesting people while conducting interviews. I want our readers to catch that inspiration and find new ways to get involved. It might seem impossible given the circumstances, but we are a strong and adaptable group of individuals here at LBCC.
Along with engaging with the community, I plan to make the students’ voices heard loud and clear as the appointed editor-in-chief of the paper this year. I plan to have The Commuter be a space to share your ideas and have them seen by faculty members and students. During my first year of college in 2019, The Commuter was a place for me and my peers to build off of each other’s creativity and drive. I want that to show through our work and contributions to our readers.
It goes without saying that The Commuter has gone through some changes since March. The pandemic took everyone by surprise and it forced newspapers everywhere to change their medium. Moving away from paper prints on LBCC’s campus to switching our focus to more digital approaches will continue to be a challenge this year, but I along with everyone at The Commuter are more than willing and enthusiastic to take it on.
The Commuter is always open to and would love to see new contributors such as photographers, editors, reporters, student voice advocates and so on. Please email me at katherine.littlefield.5238@mail.linnbenton.edu or at commuter@linnbenton.edu if you would like to get involved. Our metaphorical door is always open!
