The Gatepost Editorial: Allow us to reintroduce ourselves

Adrien Gobin / THE GATEPOST

By The Gatepost Editorial Board

In the fall of 1931, Miriam Jagodnik Feldman noticed something was missing on the Framingham Normal School’s campus. 

She created a template for a newspaper as a class project. The Hilltop News was so successful that the Student Government Association allocated money for her to start a permanent student newspaper.

The first issue of The Gatepost was published in March 1932.

While The Gatepost has undergone drastic changes over the years in keeping with the evolution of our campus, our core mission remains the same. 

We serve the Framingham State University community. 

Our commitment to ethics, objectivity, and the First Amendment is at the forefront of what we are. 

For 94 years, we have established ourselves as an independent newspaper, meaning our editorial board has complete control over the decisions it makes in terms of what we cover and what appears in our newspaper without influence from the University itself. 

As members of the free press, we have an obligation to our readers to present factual information in every area of our paper. Each article is meticulously fact-checked and edited to put forth only the truth in an objective, fair, and engaging manner. The choices made about content in our paper are entirely student-driven as a collaborative effort across our staff.

Our staff works tirelessly to ensure all voices are heard and represented in everything published under The Gatepost’s masthead.

Independent media is a cornerstone of the free press, and it has come under attack by the Trump Administration in the last year. Independent student newspapers across the country have taken the opportunity as the semester has gotten underway to reaffirm their commitment to the independent free press and the free speech of their reporters. 

The network of independent student newspapers in New England, which we publish alongside, serves as inspiration for our staff, and it is an honor to publish alongside papers such as The Harvard Crimson, Boston College’s The Heights, UMass Amherst’s Massachusetts Daily Collegian, and many other publications that are preserving their commitment to free speech.

The Gatepost is no different.

The Gatepost Editorial Board would like to reassert that we are completely committed to reporting on the issues that affect our campus community. It is part of our responsibility as journalists to serve our community by writing about the issues that matter to them and will affect their daily lives on this campus. 

This includes news regarding any action the Trump Administration or the Department of Education might take that will specifically affect our campus. However, national news stories and stories from the City of Framingham that do not affect our students are usually left to national and local reporters. 

This campus and your voices are our top priority.

This commitment has not changed over the years. Every editorial board that has led The Gatepost has prided itself on its dedication to ethically and objectively informing our community about breaking news, as well as sharing the daily life and events that make our campus a lively and inclusive place to be. 

In addition, we are lucky to be able to share the stories of both students and faculty. Our athletes, student organizations, staff, and faculty are incredibly knowledgeable, talented individuals, and we deeply enjoy introducing them to our University, whether that be in our weekly Gatepost Interview or in our sports and arts & features sections.  

Just as was the case 94 years ago, we continue to be graciously funded by our colleagues in the Student Government Association, and we thank them for their continued support of our mission. Our constitution is in keeping with their guidelines that we use our funds to create a newspaper that is by and for the students on this campus. 

Our efforts have consistently been rewarded by prestigious journalism organizations, including the New England Newspaper & Press Association (NENPA) and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). The Gatepost has been named one of the best college newspapers in New England for three consecutive years by one or both of these organizations. 

We earn these incredible honors as a small, dedicated, unpaid staff operating with two incredibly knowledgeable and encouraging advisors. 

We are proud of the commitment to excellence that is shared by every editor, writer, photographer, and designer who occupies McCarthy 410 as a workspace, creative environment, and home. 

In keeping with our mission, The Gatepost Editorial Board welcomes members of the Framingham State community to visit our office, share feedback, and connect with our writers. 

We value the importance of truly representing the diverse voices and experiences of our community, and it is of the utmost importance to our staff to represent this community to the best of our ability.

The Gatepost is a trust - one passed down from Editorial Board to Editorial Board. We, the 2025-26 Gatepost Editorial Board, have inherited a standard for excellence and a deep commitment to our community. 

Our mission will never falter, and we will persist.