This semester we are publishing The Feather Brain a few days after April Fool’s Day. The Feather Brain is a joke issue—a space for satire and comedy. Each year, The Feather Brain brings mixed feedback—some people love it and some people hate it. A few semesters ago, we received comments that we should discontinue The Feather Brain because it is immature and takes away from the professionalism of the paper.
Although the staff is responsible for creating both The Feather Brain and The Weather Vane, I think it is important that readers remember the issues are separate. The Feather Brain is not The Weather Vane. It is a different entity that allows the staff to bring more creativity and levity into their articles.
At its best, The Feather Brain is a satirical commentary that is relevant to EMU students. It should contain references not only to popular culture, but also specific EMU happenings and policies.
The Feather Brain’s content sometimes strays from that goal and contains unnecessary fluff, graphics, and other shenanigans. While I prefer well-written satire over a hodgepodge of nonsense, humor does not have one set standard— different styles appeal to different people. What I call nonsense may be a riot for somebody else.
Each semester, staff members look forward to a week where they can write some of the stories they have bounced off of one another as jokes. Creating eight pages of a newspaper with a small staff is exhausting work, so having a week to indulge in tomfoolery gives the staff a reprieve from the typical stress that publishing week brings.
It also brings relief to some of our student audience. They can pick up the paper and have something light to read, which can provide an escape from the humdrum of classes.
With those things in mind, the hope is The Feather Brain will have a little something for everyone: memes, satire, and other comical devices. A professor should be able to pick it up and see thoughtful takes on matters applicable to EMU, but a student should also be able to pick it up and see student issues and generational references.
Although The Feather Brain will not be everyone’s favorite issue, it is still an integral part of the paper that I hope will stick around. It has the potential to be a fun space for writers to try a style that they don’t normally use and it can address issues in a more accessible way.
While I hear the concerns and complaints from those who are unenthused about The Feather Brain, I hope they will continue to read it and find articles that do appeal to their tastes.
Furthermore, I hope they see our efforts to make The Feather Brain less chaotic and more composed. The creation of The Feather Brain should be fun for the staff, but also relevant to the community we inform. I hope that with the coming issue, we are able to strike that balance to create a Feather Brain issue that is comical for all.
