Last week, the Observer ran a column titled “We Observed You,” which received a large amount of negative feedback. The original intent of the column was to “observe” random, funny or interesting people on campus or in the community and write about them, but we have failed miserably at that.

I’ve taken full responsibility for the inclusion of this column into the paper. It was my idea to include it and I have final say over anything that makes its way to print. The Observer staff as a whole does not deserve the negative criticism directed at them about this column as it was not their decision, only mine.

I would like to personally say how sorry I am to everyone I’ve hurt with “We Observed You.” It was never my intention to harm or bully anyone, but I have obviously failed tremendously at that.

My intention with the column was to include a “community spotlight” that would celebrate the uniqueness in all of us. The idea was borrowed liberally from The Stranger, a weekly newspaper in Seattle. Their section is called “We Saw You” and it reads very similarly to what we have.

There is a huge difference, however. They do not include photos of people, and they wouldn’t include a description so thorough as the one we had for the “denim cowboy” section. (His name is Ian I’m told, and he loves to walk around).

And it’s you, Ian, who deserves the biggest apology of all. We never should have included you in this section and it was very wrong to do so. I’m very sorry Ian, you did not deserve this at all.

Looking back, this section in particular was extremely unprofessional. It’s not our job or our place to point things out about people, and our staff couldn’t be more against bullying or mocking. It’s clear to me now that something like this should never be included in any newspaper, especially not the way we fumbled it.

Ellensburg is an interesting and unique community full of loving, wonderful people. It should have been more clear to me that a column celebrating people (with their consent) would be not only more interesting to read, but would better reflect the individuality that can be found all around us.   

Including this column did nothing to empower our students and make the community a better place for everyone. Since it ran, I’ve received multiple emails and messages suggesting better ways we could approach a “community spotlight” of sorts.  

And I’ve taken these suggestions to heart. I’m excited to announce that we’ll run a new column, titled “People of Ellensburg,” or “Students of Central” (we haven’t quite nailed down the name yet) where we spotlight one individual a week (with their consent).

If they’re quirky, the story will reflect that. If they’re serious and stern, the story will reflect that. If they’re hilarious and a complete goofball, the story will reflect that. What the story won’t do is observe from afar without ever knowing who the real subject is.

I understand an apology on paper is hardly enough to mend any feelings I have broken. But just know that I’m completely sincere when I say that I never meant to hurt anyone and that I am truly, deeply sorry for what I’ve done.

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that we’re all students putting out a product before we go off to do the real thing. And students are notorious for messing up. This isn’t an excuse, but just know that as a student, I mess up all the time. But I always learn from that mistake and try my best to make things better.

This is my attempt to make at least one thing better.

-Jonathan Glover

Editor-in-Chief