Since my first day at the DE, I’ve been told by students, professors and community members how much the DE means to them and how they rely on us to stay informed.

We have a large base of dedicated readers who pick up our paper regularly; this is never more apparent than when we change our delivery or what is included in the paper. 

The amount of calls I’ve received regarding papers arriving at a different time than expected is seconded only by the amount of complaints I’ve received when the paper doesn’t contain the sudoku.

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I expected the DE would cease printing in the near future. I did not expect it would stop this semester or for this reason.

COVID-19 has upended the lives of every student at SIU. I’ve seen the effects it’s had on my staff, and we are just a small portion of the university community. 

We have been told this is the most important story of our careers. We have been told when people look back on SIU’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, our work will be key to their understanding. We have been told the campus and community are relying on us. 

We know this to be the truth.

This is why, despite being spread across Illinois and beyond, adapting to new class formats and living situations, and transferring to working entirely online, we have continued to produce content and bring you, the reader, the information you need to stay informed and stay safe.

In times of crisis, journalism plays a vital role in distributing information. It doesn’t matter if it’s from a national news outlet or a local student-run outlet; there will always be stories to tell and information to share. 

It’s my goal for the DE to continue to fulfill this purpose; however, it’s no longer possible for us to do so through the print edition.

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At this time, I don’t know when we will return to printing a weekly issue. It could be in a month, it could be next semester or it could be not at all. One thing we can all gather from this outbreak is the future is not definite and we can’t predict what will happen.

Regardless of what happens with print, the DE will still be online and we will still be working hard to provide you with daily content. The best way to keep up-to-date on what we’re publishing is to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram and to subscribe to push notifications on our website. 

We hope all of our readers stay safe and healthy during this time. Please feel free to reach out to us via email or social media with any ideas for stories or coverage you would like to see.

The DE’s COVID-19 coverage can be viewed here.

Editor in Chief Rana Schenke can be reached at [email protected].

To stay up to date with all your southern Illinois news, follow the Daily Egyptian on Facebook and Twitter.

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