Michael Falcone Michael Falcone is the 2001-02
managing editor. E-mail him at [email protected].
It’s the most basic question a good journalist asks in
every interview: Why?
An up-and-coming reporter once answered that question when I
asked him why he had joined the Daily Bruin.
Because, he said, in the midst of a vast ““ often
impersonal university ““ he felt The Bruin was his place.
Because it often seemed far more worthwhile to labor endlessly
over a story that would be given to his editor and published for
thousands of people to read than it was to turn in a paper to a
professor who might never even know his name.
Though some will think this is a cynic’s-eye view of
student life at UCLA, I doubt there is anyone among us who
hasn’t felt similarly.
If you ask members of The Bruin staff why we do it, you will get
responses as widely varied as the personalities of the people who
work here.
But at some point, I think everyone would say that doing
journalism is always challenging, sometimes frustrating and
undoubtedly empowering.
For the editors of this newspaper, The Bruin is a lifestyle
choice. And while it may not always seem so, most of us believe we
have chosen wisely.
The Bruin is a way of life so consuming that we often
don’t remember what a privilege it is to work here.
We are leaders of a campus organization with the sole mission to
inform and enlighten a public always curious to know: Why?
With that leadership comes the responsibility to report
accurately, portray vividly and produce quality. And a quality
product is what we at The Bruin strive for every day ““ even
when stories are breaking, the stress level is high and the hands
of the wall clock are the harbinger of the fast-approaching
deadline.
We have a philosophy at The Bruin ““ a sentiment I’m
sure all newspapers share ““ that no matter what happens
during the course of a day, no matter how difficult the work is or
how much we struggle, the paper will come out the next day.
In a chaotic and confusing world, the daily paper has always
been one of life’s few constants.
And it’s consistency that holds the paper together.
It’s been nearly a decade since the last time the managing
editor had a column, so I thought I should mention what my job
is.
It’s my responsibility to make sure that the daily miracle
known as “production” occurs and that the paper hits
the stands every morning. And if I do my job well, tomorrow’s
paper will be a little bit better than the day before.
But production cannot occur without people.
And it is an excellent staff that makes this paper what it
is.
A staff that is willing to come in when most people are still
asleep the day tragedy strikes and stay until midnight to cover a
story completely.
A staff whose flesh and blood are the editors, writers,
photographers and artists and whose backbone is the Webmasters,
copy editors, and designers.
And a staff that continues to ask: Why?
To see how your Daily Bruin comes together every day, log on to
the Daily Bruin’s Web site, dailybruin.ucla.edu, where
we will soon post a special online feature: “A Day in the
Life of the Daily Bruin.”