I find myself at a bit of a loss for words. Maybe I spent them all on what turned out to be my longest article yet (but more on that later). Or maybe it’s because I currently find myself in that awkward phase between graduation and finding a steady job. It’s a weird state where you simultaneously feel proud of your accomplishments, but also have an almost disappointing sense of “now what?” Maybe this confused state of mind is why I find myself unable to think of a topic for this note. Maybe I’m not really sure where to go from here. Or maybe I’m being a tad melodramatic. As I sit here looking at the sun setting behind some trees (by the way, I wish you could see this view), I’m listening to a song by The Mountain Goats called “This Year.” It makes me feel nostalgic for my time at the university, but it’s also a song about charging forward. In between verses of bittersweet reminiscing, there’s the cry of the chorus saying “I am going to make it through this year if it kills me!”
My first year out of university will most likely be defined by the work that I find. Unfortunately, quality work is something that seems to be increasingly undervalued these days. Back in January, Helsinki University announced plans to lay-off 570 employees by spring of 2016, and we’ve recently started to see some of these plans come into effect. It’s an effort to cut costs, but it’s an incredibly short-sighted way of looking at things. Getting rid of education is a surefire way to derail progress. We’re just digging a deeper hole now.
In addition to teachers and translators, this under-valuing can be seen regarding writers as well. I recently saw a series of tweets by an author named James Bloodworth who has written a book on the “difficulty [that] working class kids have breaking into professions because of [the] proliferation of unpaid work.” Because of the urgency of the topic, Bloodworth was approached by the Huffington Post website in relation to writing a piece about his book for them. He was interested until he found out that the Huffington Post would not actually be paying him. Just think about that for a moment. The sheer nerve of that site asking an author to write an article about the proliferation of unpaid work for free. The magical word that they offer in exchange is “exposure.” But you can’t buy food with exposure. But hey, whatever, giving exposure doesn’t cost them a thing. Sweet, huh? They’re essentially saying that the value of their writers is nil and, unfortunately, they are not the only sites doing this.
And I want to make a clear distinction here regarding sites like the Huff Post and BTSB. We’re a none-profit collection of writers looking to better our skills. As a group, we frequently discuss each other’s articles before and after a new issue comes out in order to help each other develop as writers. And yes, many of us might be doing this partially for that magical word “exposure.” Yet the difference here is that there aren’t people profiting from our writing. Every article is owned by the writer themselves, and they are free to do whatever they like with it. Rather than implying that the value of the BTSB editors is nil, I want to make it a goddamned point to say that their work is incredibly valuable. It makes me truly proud to be the Editor-in-Chief of such a talented group of people, and we value our work. We own it. THIS is the way to get exposure, not by helping other people get rich.
Our teachers and professors have been undervalued. Our translators have been undervalued. Our writers have been undervalued. Things need to change, and cutting costs is not the way to go about it. I do hope that we can make it through this, preferably with it not killing our value.
In this issue, we have an excellent variety of topics. For another perspective on writing professionally, you should check out Inka’s article on the qualms with getting the dream job. In other journalism related news, Kaisa takes Ylioppilaslehti to task for yet another one of their stunts. We’ve also got a few travel pieces right in time for the end of the school year, as Eve gives you a tour of Scotland, while Saara returns to tell you all about Italy. On top of that, you should definitely read Emma’s reaction to Anna Paavilainen’s powerful monologue “Play Rape.” If you’re looking for that longest article yet of mine that I mentioned earlier, you should read my piece on the womens’ revolution in professional wrestling that I hope you’ll find interesting even if you’re not a fan. Finally, if everything is getting a bit heavy for you, definitely check out Hanna’s brand new comic strips about living with her cat.
We thoroughly hope you enjoy this issue. I value it highly.
Most sincerely,
Jesper Simola
Editor-in-Chief