I seem to be getting more and more spam in my inbox as of late. Every morning, I find myself deleting a bunch of unwanted emails, all while being careful not to accidentally discard any legitimate ones in my grim enthusiasm. It happens occasionally, but never with fan messages like the one I received this week: “‘Sing, fight, cry, pray, laugh, work and admire’ IS BACK: YES.”
Old wine
It came from one of our loyal readers, who added that he himself had been interviewed for the series thirteen years ago (“Everything still holds true”). In it, we profile students and staff members through a mix of quirky and serious questions. Is it a case of old wine in new bottles? Not at all – we’re using the exact same format precisely because it works so well. You can read this week’s interview with Ruben Philipsen to see for yourself.
Sex-series
A brand-new feature this academic year is our “sex series”, in which UM sexologist Marieke Dewitte answers students’ questions. She talks candidly and professionally about even the most intimate topics. But putting this into writing can be tricky. We wanted to avoid making it feel awkward, crass or too heavy. Before the summer, we agreed that the series should be informative while relatively light in tone. A little humour is welcome, but it’s a delicate balance. The same goes for the accompanying illustrations. All articles and images have been carefully reviewed and revised multiple times. You can check out the result and see what you think.
Two names
We’re also welcoming two new names to the print version of Observant and our website this year. One of them is Deborah Blekkenhorst, who joined the team as an editor in mid-August. She has a long and proven track record in journalism, having worked on current affairs and sports programmes at NOS and BNN/VARA. You may have heard her on the radio or in podcasts covering the Olympic Games or F1. She knows a lot about sports, but also has first-hand experience in education as a teacher at the School for Journalism.
The second new addition is junior journalist Lena Reichel. She just completed her master’s in Media Studies, following a bachelor’s degree in Arts and Culture, at Maastricht University. She has previously written for a German newspaper and the FASoS Mosaïek Magazine. As a junior journalist, she’ll continue to hone her writing skills with us. Originally from Germany, she’s made great strides in improving her Dutch over the past few months. Our Dutch-taught summer school course in Journalism and Effective Writing was challenging for her, but her first Dutch articles are now online.