When I walked into Cursor's editorial office for my first day of work on Tuesday, November 14, 2023, I had no idea I would be staying this long. As temporary editor-in-chief, I would need - so the idea was - six months to resolve the crisis of confidence with the Executive Board and give Cursor a new perspective. To refresh the memory: a discussion about an article had arisen, the editor-in-chief was suspended, after which the newsroom shut down the website in protest.    

Those intended six months turned into sixteen months. Change takes time. But I am now very happy that I can confidently hand over the leadership of Cursor to my successor Marieke Verbiesen. The TU/e community will soon get to know her as an ambitious and sympathetic professional, who is always open to discussion, but who will not be pushed around and will defend independent journalism with heart and soul.  

When I was cleaning out my desk, I came across a folded-up flipchart sheet. During a first awayday with the editorial team, we brainstormed about Cursor's DNA. I wrote down more than 20 keywords on the flipchart with which we collectively tried to capture the essence of Cursor. Journalistically independent was - of course - mentioned first, followed by: reliable, informative, careful, fast, critical, connecting, stimulating, visible, reader-focused, entertaining, no PR.   

This one flipchart sheet served as a guide for writing the new editorial charter.  We also brainstormed that first awayday about 'personas'. Because who actually reads Cursor? We created three profiles: student Niels, secretary Annemarie and PhD researcher Xu. We thought about what their lives, studies and work look like, and then brainstormed about the news and background articles (and videos) we should make to inform them about everything that goes on at the university. A lot of ideas came out of that, which formed the basis of a new editorial formula.   

By returning to the editorial basis of Cursor, the editorial team slowly but surely left the crisis behind. Looking at journalism from a reader's perspective is always refreshing.   

But the work was far from over. The new editorial charter had to be supported by all parties involved: the editorial staff, the Executive Board, the University Council, and - oh yes - the new editorial board I was putting together.   

An important moment was the publication of the report of the committee investigating censorship by the Executive Board. The violation of Cursor's press freedom was at the root of the crisis of confidence between the Executive Board and the editorial staff. The committee came to the conclusion in June 2024 that there was no “structural influence,” but that the Executive Board had violated internal rules regarding Cursor's press freedom.

The painful process of restoring trust thus entered a new phase. A meeting between the Executive Board and the editorial team then took much of the chill out of the air. In that meeting in September 2024, everyone respectfully vented their hearts. The question “how do we prevent this from happening in the future?” actually had a simple answer: better and faster mutual communication. That finding definitively created space to work 100 percent on the future of Cursor again.  

That is a future Cursor of which I will no longer be a part. That will take some getting used to, because I have become very fond of all the reporters and the many students and staff I have met. Thanks for all the support, and also for the fun, because it was great fun to work again on the campus where I myself graduated in 1996.   

I wish Marieke all the best in realizing her ambition to make Cursor the “indispensable news source” for everyone who studies, researches and works on the TU/e campus. The pulse of the university must be felt through Cursor. On the flipchart sheet I can see some starting points to further sharpen Cursor's journalism!