It is a classic trap that we all fall into: Working hard on day-to-day tasks, with our vision steered toward the future, we forget why we are doing what we are doing. We remember the past only casually, having noted our successes and our failures, what has worked and what hasn’t. But we rarely take the time to examine the reasons behind our actions. We often forget the real past: the questions, the struggles, the debates, the worries and the actions that all form the basis of our today.
The same is true at newspapers, including the Voice. Our focus is now. Our job is to cover the present and how it relates to the past and the future. Each issue of the Voice is rooted in the tradition of our paper: to cover news, arts and entertainment, and sports that occur both on and off campus and that are of interest to the Georgetown community. In deciding what stories to print, we try to keep in mind this mission. But rarely do we think about how this mission was chosen for the paper.
In 1969, the Voice had no tradition. It barely even had an office or a staff. But it did have the vision of one man, Steve Pisinski (CAS ‘71), who sought to bring to the Georgetown campus a publication that would “view and analyze issues in a liberal light ? [and] not limit editorial content to campus topics.” In doing so, as was noted in the debut editorial of the paper, he and his fellow Voice founders presented a new style of journalism to the University.
Over the years, the format and style of the Voice have changed; editors have come and gone. But the original objective of the paper, as Pisinski envisioned it, has not been altered. We still strive to frame our editorials with a liberal slant, while combining objective news and sports coverage with insightful leisure and cover stories that take Georgetown students beyond Healy Gates into the vibrant and exciting city in which they live. Were it not for Pisinski’s idea 33 years ago, the campus might still be lacking an important forum for students to express their ideas.
It was with sadness that we learned of Pisinski’s sudden death on May 15, 2002 in San Francisco. He died of a heart attack at the age of 52. Pisinski had made a successful career in the public relations field following his graduation from Georgetown’s College of Arts and Sciences in 1971. He started out working for Ketchum Public Relations, where he remained for 10 years before moving to San Francisco to work for the firm Burson-Marsteller. Three years later he opened his own public relations firm, which was acquired by Ogilvy & Mather Public Relations in 1985. He remained with Ogilvy & Mather for six more years before again opening his own firm, The Montgomery Group. He was serving as president of The Montgomery Group at the time of his death.
Pisinski’s death has given us all pause to reconsider our roots at the Voice. Although future editors may not remember Pisinski every day, the legacy of his creation will certainly continue to touch many more in the same way it has touched us and those who have worked here before us. As we dedicate this issue to his memory, we send our deepest sympathies to his family and friends.
Christopher Trott (SFS ‘03)
Editor-in-Chief
