To begin with, I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Jozsef Papp and I’m the Editor-in-Chief of The George-Anne.
As you know, there has been a proposal to change the name of the Armstrong State University newspaper, The Inkwell, to The George-Anne name, because of the consolidation between the two institutions set to take effect in the Fall of 2018.
My position
I just wanted to be able to express my opinion and my position as Editor-in-Chief in the hope that makes it clear the intentions of my staff and myself in this case. Although the recommendations have been approved by all of us involved for the name change, we will support any decision made by The Inkwell editors in the name of their newspaper.
We want to make sure that everyone understands that our goal has never been take over or force the Inkwell to do anything for our benefit, rather we will like to build a relationship that will benefit both newspapers, regardless of the names, for the good of both communities.
The Inkwell is a historic name and a name that has a lot of impact on Armstrong’s campus and we want to be able to respect and keep that history going. The George-Anne is happy to be able to open doors, so both of our Savannah and Statesboro community can benefit from this part of the consolidation.
We want to be able to have the best content possible that will satisfy our readers in Statesboro, and if one story would be beneficial in Savannah, we will make sure that we share the information with our counterparts at The Inkwell. I want to make sure that under no circumstances will the Editor-in-Chief of The George-Anne in Statesboro force The Inkwell staff to write a story or create an assignment for them.
I know this consolidation has had a bigger impact at Armstrong that at Georgia Southern and although I have only been involved in the capacity of reporting about the consolidation and the recommendation of the name change for The Inkwell, I want to share my support through this difficult and delicate situation.
The George-Anne
For those who don’t know who we are, we are the official newspaper of Georgia Southern University. We just celebrated our 90th anniversary in April and are proud to be the longest continuous newspaper in Bulloch County.
We have gone through some changes the past few years with the goal of gearing towards a more digital product rather than a print product. We still expect to continue to print our newspaper every Tuesday and Thursday throughout the Fall and Spring semesters for the foreseeable future.
Looking ahead
Since this will not take effect until the Fall of 2018, I will no longer be in-charge of The George-Anne, since I will be graduating in May. However, I currently have staff members who will still be part of The George-Anne during that time and it is my duty to represent their views on the proposal.
Our main goal is to be able to collaborate and work together for both of our newspapers to be successful and we continue to grow.
I want to make sure that the editors at The Inkwell, any administrator at Armstrong and Georgia Southern or any community member at both campuses understand that I’m available for any questions, comments or concerns that they may have about the way The George-Anne operates.
