By Rosette Royale
South Seattle Emerald
Reprinted – by Garland Journal
I was about to hop on a bus on Third Avenue recently when I remembered my ORCA card was low on funds. So I dashed to Westlake Station, took the escalator down a flight, and walked toward a card-loading machine. As I reached for my card, I saw a nearby video screen that said most people felt negative about the economy, but Republicans were optimistic about 2025. I was curious but didn’t have time for distractions, so I added money to my card — $40, in a transaction so quick, I marveled at how the money we work so hard to obtain can move away from us with such speed — and caught the bus. Hours later, in the midst of work, I remembered that screen, and I tracked down the source of the headline: It was from a poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Now, while the poll results are fascinating, I haven’t been able to shake the poll’s themes: “negativity” and “optimism.” I’m taking that as inspiration because, as the managing editor, I’m supposed to write a piece where I tell you what’s in store for the South Seattle Emerald in 2025. I’ve known about the assignment for weeks, but I can’t lie: I’ve struggled over what to say. Until now. So, I’ll use these terms as guideposts, and because I do my best to forgo binary thinking, it’s likely I’ll toss in something extra.
But let’s get the bad out of the way.
Negativity
Well, just about every person I know who identifies as Black or Brown or Idigenous, LGBTQIA2S+, low-income, disabled, an immigrant, or a woman thinks about the coming year with dread. They fear 2025 will be awful (actually, they’ve used more, ummm, expressive language). Even the journalists I’ve spoken with see misery and struggle on the horizon. Just about everything they’ve told me makes sense, but it’s still a burden to carry these thoughts, individually, communally.
The Emerald prides itself on amplifying and preserving the authentic narratives of the region’s historically marginalized/misrepresented communities. So, what does that mean for our coverage for this year? Will it be dire? The short answer is no. And the rest of that answer is: But it will be truthful.
Of course, the Emerald always strives to be truthful. And if the truth of people’s experience is marked with deep concern, then it’s our responsibility to cover it. Perhaps that seems unnecessary to say, but those journalists I mentioned, they’re unsure if they and the work they produce will be targeted. They have a point. Just the other day, President-elect Donald Trump sued the Iowa Register and its top pollster, Ann Selzer, after Selzer’s pre-election polling showed Vice President Kamala Harris leading Trump. Selzer was wrong, and Trump took the state. His suit claims election interference, and he’s threatened more potential suits against news organizations and even media influencers.
Of course, the Emerald doesn’t have to worry, right? We’re small, and Trump and his followers are only interested in the big fish. But that overlooks an important point: Little fish can cause serious trouble — consider a piranha and a whale shark — so maybe people looking to attack a news org won’t care about its size. Maybe publishing honest stories about people who are often ignored will be enough to garner attention. It’s impossible to predict what will happen, except to say we’ll continue to put out the best work we can, while keeping an eye on the landscape around us.
And speaking of honest stories, here’s another one: The Emerald is going through a serious budget crunch. Lots of places are, so we’re in good company. But one of the reasons I’ve struggled to write this piece is because we’re still sorting out what our current budget reality means. I can say it won’t affect our dedication to do good work or influence the veracity of what we publish, but it may impact how much we can publish. I’ve got some relatives (I’m Black), who say, “Black folks know how to do more with less.” And while I support the notion of Black ingenuity and Black excellence, doing just about anything with less ain’t easy. It can be exhausting. Still, if that’s what has to happen…
And: Please don’t hear this as a veiled attempt at asking you to give to the Emerald. It isn’t. Of course, if you can and want to, we’ll accept it with open arms. But what I hope to communicate is that we may have a hard financial year ahead of us, which may demand tough choices about what gets published. Instead of wallowing in negativity about that, I’ll try to help chart a course of success for the Emerald. I have faith in that because of…
Optimism
Just to be transparent: I consider myself a realistic optimist. I believe that great fortune can rain down on our lives, but I know that, for a multitude of reasons, great fortune isn’t evenly distributed. Some of us experience drought.
That said, I see the Emerald doing solid work in 2025. In the past few days, I’ve been contacted by several contributors with fantastic pitches for potential articles, photo essays, and more. I think each one could provide an incredible window into our communities, so we plan to figure out how we bring them to you, as a way to help us better understand and appreciate our South End neighbors.
Some of those neighbors just happen to be contributors to and editors of the Emerald, and I want to say they’re dynamite. Really. I’m thrilled to see the great work they produce. This is worth mentioning because a budget crunch will put a crunch on the people who make the Emerald what it is, and, if it isn’t already apparent, these people don’t need to be crunched: They need to be cheered, to have their talents and gifts nurtured.
Their work will be displayed on our recently updated website, which, quite honestly, has made a world of difference around here. I know our society has a complicated relationship with tech, but this particular tech has changed the scope of what’s possible for us. A better presentation for Voices (opinion) pieces, News reporting, Arts & Culture articles and photo essays not only helps the Emerald shine, it allows the folks who contribute to it to shine. (And while I’m talking about people who shine: A special shout-out to our digital editor Megan Christy, our past managing editor/current contributor Vee Hua, and our operations administrator Lola E. Peters for helping to make our new site a reality.)
Even though it can feel as if there’s so much to feel despondent about, the Emerald can still provide a sense of optimism. That statement may sound as if it contradicts what I said earlier about the potential for tough moments, but my bookshelves are stocked with stories of people who’ve faced tough times, and my life is full of folks who’ve stared down adversity. This is what’s in front of us, so we’ll do our best to find a way, which means, for a while, we’ll experience life in the…
Unknown
I’ve been fortunate enough to have met people connected to Indigenous traditions from the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. More than a handful have spoken about an existential (or even literal) place I’ve come to call the Unknown. It’s a space or time when things are in formation, where the “what was” and “what is” shifts into the “what will be.”
Now, I certainly don’t claim to be an elder from a traditional lineage, but I feel that entering the coming year will be akin to stepping into the Unknown. For some people, the Unknown is not a reassuring place to be. For me, it’s not so upsetting. I expect these periods to come along every once in a while. That the Emerald, at 10 years old, has entered into an unknown phase isn’t so surprising. We’re connected to the world, to local communities, so what you experience and feel, we do, too.
But one thing may help to manage this time: looking out for each other. Even if the Emerald has limited resources this year, we plan to use them to listen to what’s going on in our communities and share information that will help community members live the best. most-informed lives they can. As for what you can do for us: Keep reading. Keep sharing your stories and narratives. If a piece in the Emerald resonates with you, tell someone else, post it, share it. Tell us what we’re doing right, tell us what we can do better. Let’s strengthen each other. Let’s stay in touch.
Let’s walk, side by side, through 2025 and see where it takes us. Doing it together will make this unknown time a lot easier to face.
