Spanning outside of downtown Athens, the Beyond the Bubble issue has notoriously been The Post’s way to show off Southeast Ohio and Appalachia. While we’re continuing to do that this year, we’ve also expanded our coverage for 2020’s issue. With many reporters working remotely from their hometowns due to COVID-19, we decided this issue was a great way for Post reporters, photographers and more to not only cover Southeast Ohio, but also entities in their own hometowns.
We at The Post are grateful for the opportunity to write about Athens life, culture, politics and more on a daily basis. Nonetheless, we also realize how important it is to shed light on the rest of Southeast Ohio and Appalachia. Despite being often misinterpreted and stereotyped by the issues the area faces, Appalachia is filled with charm, an active arts and culture scene, people who care about human rights movements and more. It’s a diverse, interesting place in America, and we’d be doing a disservice to not at least shine a spotlight on its many facets.
Within the issue, Post reporters dived into Appalachian tourism, rural health care systems, the fascination with Mothman, some local businesses in and around the area and more.
While focusing solely on Southeast Ohio has been the aim for past “Beyond the Bubble” issues, we feel like it’s important to broaden that coverage for this year’s issue. With COVID-19 still affecting the world, most OU students are stuck with at-home schooling, and therefore, many of The Post’s reporters, photographers, editors and more are stuck working remotely.
Broadening the coverage has allowed our reporters to cover a multitude of businesses, cities and more while tying in Athens and Ohio University. Paralleling that, this issue has also allowed many of our photographers, most of whom haven’t been able to capture what’s going on in Athens, to pull out their camera and take some photos for The Post.
Other than granting opportunities for our remote staffers, the issue is allowing Post reporters to reflect on the places they grew up in and showcase them. From the interesting music acts in Vienna, West Virginia, to some of the vegan restaurants in Columbus, Ohio, this issue touches on places that could possibly spur a day trip or two.
Southeast Oho is a fascinating place, and most of us students only call it home for four or so years of our lives. It’s the face of small-town America, and it’s our duty as a local paper to not only showcase its troubles and turmoil, but also its successes, stories, people and businesses — to give back to the place that shapes our college years. That’s what our goal is with “Beyond the Bubble.”
Molly Schramm is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University and the editor-in-chief of The Post. Have questions? Email Molly at ms660416@ohio.edu or tweet her @_molly_731.