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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

from Jerk March 2023

from Jerk March 2023, page 67

TAKING SURVIVOR TO TRIBAL COUNCIL

I love magazines. “ Zoe,” You’re thinking, “Duh. You’re a Magazine major, not to mention the Editor in Chief of the magazine I’m reading right now.” What an astute observation, my dear Jerk

When I say I love magazines, I don’t mean I love the words and pictures in this magazine (although I do!). I love getting to put my hands on the paper, smudging ink on the heel of my hand as I edit, and working with our fantastic design and photography teams to conceptualize images. One of the most visceral moments of my life was the first time I saw my name in print. My brain formed a core memory as I touched the letters that made up the words “By Zoe Glasser” in my high school newspaper. That might be a total journalism nerd moment, but it’s true. So when I say I love magazines, I also mean that I love holding a little glossy book of gorgeous words, pictures, and drawings in my hands. I love the process of creating that little book and then getting to share it with a group of people who are equally excited about that process.

We at Jerk know that, as time passes, technological innovation may eat our little book alive. Still, we like to think that there’s room for everyone in this wide world. So, this issue of Jerk is all about time — the future, the past, and everything in between. We take a microscope, and sometimes a hammer, to long-standing norms, like violence against women disguised as kink on page 11. We dissect the future of AI and what it could mean for both artists and the privacy of individuals on pages 17 and 35. We celebrate our favorite timeless trash TV, old and new, on page 57.

Much of the human experience is spent contemplating the past or the future — worrying about it, studying it, preparing for it, or all of the above. This is also true of the print journalism industry. For the past 4 years, I have learned all of the possible reasons why my job may not exist soon and how to stay afloat in an industry built on constant change. A lot of my peers at Jerk who plan to go into the media industry have done the same. Maybe you’ve even been forced to think about how to pivot your career in one of your classes. In all likelihood, you have; if there’s one thing we know about time, it’s that it guarantees nothing.

It’s possible that there may not be a print version of Jerk in the future, but there will always be print issues from the past. We’ll hold on to these little books that we made together. We can always find meaning and truth in them, and we’ll remember the process. For now, though, us Jerks are going to continue making our little book twice a semester, and we hope you continue reading it. And, in case you were wondering, none of these articles were written by ChatGPT.

With love, Zoe Glasser (she/her/hers) Editor in Chief