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The Daily Tar Heel

Column: The DTH likes fun, and that's why we created 'Swerve'

Sarah Vassello

Swerve director Sarah Vassello

As Kanye West once (allegedly) said, “My life is dope and I do dope shit.”

That’s kind of my motto.

At The Daily Tar Heel, I’ve been on the arts/arts & culture/arts & entertainment/arts & stuff desk for three years, since I started at UNC. As a desk, we’ve covered what many would consider dope shit — everything from professors in love to when Prince was at UNC to the best dogs on campus.

And last year, Kelsey Weekman, internet extraordinaire, created a digital desk at the DTH that encompassed the fun and interactive — everything from great places to eat in Chapel Hill to determining which member of the academic scandal you are and more.

The Daily Tar Heel is all about dope shit. That’s why we’re trying something new.

I am so proud and excited to announce our new entertainment vertical, Swerve.

Swerve is a mix of the two aforementioned desks — fun features, longform stories and essays that were traditionally found in the arts section with the interactivity and creativity traditionally found in our blogs.

We’re taking the best, the funniest and the weirdest of UNC — your most bizarre Tinder stories, your obsession with UNC basketball, your questions about being an adult, your observations about being a student — and we’re telling your stories in a way that matches the content.

That means we’re working in print, audio, video, graphics, gifs, emojis — whatever makes sense.

And we want your help. Go to dailytarheel.com/section/swerve, tweet at us @dthswerve, email us at swerve@dailytarheel.com, snap us at "dthswerve," DM us on the DTH Swerve Facebook page and let us know what we’re missing.

Let us know if you’re a creative writing enthusiast and have a personal essay to share. Let us know if your best friend created her own language. Let us know if you want to share a really cool graphic that you made about the women’s soccer team. Let us know if you think we’re doing too much and need to tone it down (politely).

This is for you.

When we were deciding on the name for this section, we knew we wanted a name that signified a shift from our traditional content. We wanted something that looked toward the future, both in content and in terms of the legacy of this paper and what it stands for. We wanted it to be relatable and fun and interesting.

Since I joined The Daily Tar Heel, I’ve been focused on creating dope shit on a daily basis. Every person at the DTH has. And, so far, my life’s been pretty dope as a result.

With the help of my wonderful assistants, my tireless colleagues and — most importantly — you, I know Swerve will be dope, too.

@sarahvassello

swerve@dailytarheel.com

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