The Menton Times: A Year in Review

Mentoniya, Mentoniya.

Last summer, I was struck with a vision for a newspaper that would synthesize campus discourse and bring all student events together in one collective monthly recount. Though I was committed to bringing it to life, I never foresaw the scope or size that it would reach in just one year.

Mentoniya, on behalf of the Menton Times, I thank you for your readership and a successful first year together. The trials and tribulations of just one year at Sciences Po have filled the pages of our newspaper with fresh opinions, breaking news, sparkling student features, and insightful coverage of sporting events and local arts.

The journey of creating a newspaper from scratch was filled with the unexpected — it was a turbulent yet irreplaceable experience. I got to watch our designer and my dear friend, 2A Ada Baser, create a layout template from scratch. She pieced together over 30 articles worth of content into one digital masterpiece each and every month.

“Starting the design of a paper from scratch wasn’t the easiest experience… [but] at the end of the day, it’s been a pleasure to work with the many different members of the team, because designers need to communicate with reporters, photographers, and the editorial board,” said Baser. “I hope I have been able to bring their amazing works to life.” Her clean-cut designs have been praised by Mentonese students. “I really like the mise-en-page,” said 1A Amira Zargouni, “it’s really easy to read.”

Our editorial team, made up of 1A Ayse Lara Selcuker, 1A Lara-Nour Walton, 2A Morgane Abbas, and myself, has had to edit just as many articles to fulfill our three-step editing process. “Editing felt special to me because journalism has been a really formative source for me,” said Walton. “To make this newspaper a reality was genuinely so fulfilling.”

My role as Editor-in-Chief, besides managing and organizing the team, consisted of a wondrous albeit time-consuming process by which I had to review each article that was ever published. I knew that I was collecting stories from the students, combining them in one collective and polished form, and sending them back to the student body for all to read, and I wanted to do them justice. I grasped the significance of my job in qualifying the words our students were entrusting to the paper to send out to the world.

Our photography team, led by 1A Hugo Lagergren and composed of 1A Emilia Kohlmeyer and 2A Wang Di, has brought each and every story to life with its talent and eye for the camera. “

The staff reporters and guest reporters, without whom this paper would not exist, made the decision to share their stories with us and with you — a decision for which we are endlessly grateful.

“Writing for the Menton Times has been incredible! I joined the team with little writing experience, but I saw my skills improve through the feedback and support of our editors, and my articles allowed me to further immerse myself in the topics I am most passionate about,” said 1A Magdelena Offenbeck.

Over the course of one year, we have worked with a team of about 20 people and around 39 guest writers. We wrote articles in collaboration with a variety of associations, ranging from Sciences Alcoolémiques to the Stone Skipping Society to the BDS to Babel, MEDMUN, TedX, Environnementon, and the list goes on.

2A Isabella Aouad, who contributed to the newspaper as a guest reporter, noted, “It was very impressive how, in one year, the Menton Times became a real thing. It was very consistent and rigorous and featured really high quality articles.” 1A Joudi Arafa, who claimed she was proud to contribute as a guest reporter, affirmed, “The Menton Times is a big campus name.”

I’m proud of our team for creating a shared vision out of what started as a small idea. The process behind the paper starts with our monthly meetings, which take on the form of a team brainstorming session, to choose article topics for that month’s issue. “I really enjoyed the flexibility of choosing my topics instead of having them assigned,” said 1A staff reporter Luca Utterwulghe. I’ve always trusted our writers with the topics they chose, and I was ecstatic that they matched my trust with passion and motivation for the job.

Besides our partnerships and guest articles, we try to include everyone on the campus by including student quotes and opinions in each article. “It’s fun interviewing people to get quotes for my articles,” said Utterwulghe, “I learned a lot from this past year at the Menton Times.”

I am grateful to you, Mentoniya, for electing our association to be an official student initiative this past semester, opening up doors of opportunity for us with your trust. With the exception of the godforsaken month of February, we upheld our promise to you to publish each and every month. For the first year, our 7-1 success rate makes me quite proud.

I recognize that our process wasn’t perfect. This was just the start of an association that I hope will live on for years after my departure. I believe in the future leaders of the association to not only enhance our process, but establish additional projects and events to make campus life even more robust. I am proud to announce that the association will be carried on by Lara-Nour Walton as Editor-in-Chief, Magdalena Offenbeck as Managing Editor, Hugo Lagergren as Head of Photography.

I originally intended for the Menton Times to be a route for students to be heard by their peers, an opportunity for one to collect their thoughts before making them public, and to bring attention to a particular experience or event. It was supposed to serve as a chance to create change in our small, cozy Mentonese ummah. My goal, above all, was to bring students closer together.

In my original “Letter from the Editor” in our very first issue, I wrote that journalism is a pillar of democracy, a chance to touch the hearts and minds of those around us and change the course of history for the better. Here in Menton, I hope we’ve done that on a personal level — if nothing else, I hope we’ve helped you better understand and resonate with the going-ons of our little community. I hope we’ve informed you.

Thank you for your attention, and for the last time this year, happy reading!

Sincerely and with love,

Celeste Abourjeili

Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Menton Times 2021-2022