I am very pleased to announce that this will be the last article I write as the RSF Post editor. Rachel Laffer has moved back into the Covenant, and has graciously agreed to take over as the Post’s editor.
Why The Switch
Being both an RSF Association Board member and the Post’s editor was never an ideal combination to serve you, the readers. As a Board member, I am duty bound to give a positive spin on anything the Association does and be a cheerleader for all our initiatives. Moreover, readers are left wondering if they can or should criticize the Association, our policies and initiatives in the Post. And that’s a shame as I am well aware that literally anything the Association does doesn’t have 100% of the community behind it. There are dissenting voices on every issue. But the Post, and you, are unlikely to hear them if the editor is an establishment voice.
The RSF Post
This will be the fourth editor the Post has had. People may not realize that this is our ninth year of operation! The post was started by local resident Nick Krnich as a way to increase voter turnout during Board elections. When Krnich handed off editing duties to Rachel Laffer in 2017, the Post became an important and unbiased source of community news, which continued when I took over as editor in 2019.
Rachel Laffer
Laffer comes to the post with a professional journalism pedigree (unlike myself who frankly was winging it). She was the publisher of the nation’s oldest college daily, The Yale Daily News, at Yale University, and a writer and editor at The Wall Street Journal in the US and Europe. She is currently a consultant and freelancer writer.
You will find that Laffer is an easy person to talk to and confide in. Anything said off the record to her won’t make it back to me, so I hope people will feel free to criticize the Board’s policies going forward. Better community engagement will only make us better, and it is important to let the Association know when something could be improved.
Laffer can be reached now at editor@rsfpost.com.
Going Forward
I’ll still write the occasional article. There continues to be interesting things happening in the equestrian community, and I want to write a follow up to my Changing TV Landscape article. But Laffer will be writing the Board meeting summaries going forward. I might still write occasional articles about the Association, but it’ll be as a Board member, espousing the Board’s view on matters.
By the way, if anyone would like to be the “beat” reporter for the Roger Rowe School, please contact Laffer at editor@rsfpost.com.
This editorial change should strengthen the Post’s independence and ensure that it will remain a critical community institution for many years to come.
