This past year of State Press Magazine has been incredibly exciting to witness and be part of. Reporters were unafraid to shed light on severe injustices at the University and in the community, and multimedia staff pioneered changes to the mag’s layout and made bold design choices all year. I am in awe of the work that has come out of this team.
Editing a magazine is something I have wanted to do since I read American Girl Magazine in the 2000s and Teen Vogue online in the 2010s, and it came to a fever pitch when I was editor-in-chief of my high school’s yearbook in early 2020.
Beginning college in the middle of a pandemic was scary, confusing and disappointing, but it allowed me to pour my being into reporting. State Press Magazine was there for me throughout the majority of my college career, providing a stable creative outlet that trained me to be a strong reporter and editor. My understanding of journalism is leaps and bounds from where it was freshman year, thanks to having the opportunity and responsibility of reporting and editing through incredibly fierce elections and important social justice movements.
I am honored to have been given the privilege to lead this publication and humbled to have worked with an incredibly talented, tight-knit staff.
Leah Mesquita graced SPM’s pages with storytelling so bold that it led to her first story of the year going viral and reigniting a TikTok trend. Audrey Eagerton and Claire Geare never failed to make us laugh — and sometimes sigh — with their unabashed sharp wit and criticisms of the University and student culture. Fatima Gabir was unwavering in her pursuit of awareness and justice for marginalized communities in her stories, and Gib Manrique told the stories of his community while balancing grace with tongue-in-cheek humor. Zach Bradshaw brought sports coverage back to the magazine for the first time in over two years. Keetra Bippus and Sam McGee demonstrated their deep understanding of student culture and students’ interests. Abigail Beck’s inquisitive nature led to some of the strongest research and reporting the magazine saw this year. Finally, Hajin Lee’s mind-blowing eye for beautiful photography and Andrea Ramirez’s marriage of her enormous imagination with her clear and distinctive illustration style brought the issues to life.
A special thank you to Monica Navarro for stepping up to design 40-plus vibrant pages per issue with her unbounded creativity and versatile design style, as well as Sydney Huyge and Anna Olp for taking their unique designs from the magazine onto our social media.
Thank you to the rest of The State Press’ leadership team for trusting my team to forward the organization’s mission within our pages.
To my managing editors, Savannah Dagupion and Madeline Nguyen, I can never thank you enough for your dedication and devotion to this craft. Savannah’s deep passion for community-engaged reporting informed everything from the issues’ themes to the stories we selected and the copy within them, and the satirical story she wrote about her Native Hawaiian heritage prominently displayed her brilliant personality. Maddie’s jaw-dropping reporting skills with her easily distinguishable writing voice masterfully told a vital story about unpaid internships, while her penchant for precise editing polished each issue’s copy until it shone brightly. Nothing this year — from the magazine’s stellar work to the amazing culture developed within the team — would have been possible without them.
To our audience, thank you for trusting us with your stories and for coming back to read our new issues each month. We do all of this for you and are eternally grateful for your support.
Lastly, to all aspiring reporters, do not be afraid or discouraged. Good journalism is necessary now more than ever, requiring us to remain steadfast in the pursuit of knowledge and accountability to help shape a just future.
Very sincerely,
Camila Pedrosa
Editor-in-Chief, State Press Magazine
Camila Pedrosa is the Editor-in-Chief for The State Press Magazine. This is her fifth semester working with the magazine, and she has previously written for Cronkite News, The Arizona Republic and The Copper Courier.
