First, congratulations to The Cavalier Daily for its recent award. Few realize the amount of work required in producing any student publication, much less an award-winning daily. Second, thanks, readers, for all of the feedback I received this week. The correspondence was so voluminous that I will have to wait until next week to address many of your concerns, but I promise I will get to them. This week, I'm continuing to examine some problems caused by The Cavalier Daily's dual roles as a student newspaper and a business.
On Gourds and P.U.M.P.K.I.N.s
I received a number of letters on last Monday's P.U.M.P.K.I.N. editorial and most criticized the Managing Board's decision not to publish the society's ad. Some felt that by not publishing the names of the honored and dishonored that The Cavalier Daily was ignoring its role as a student paper and historical source in acting as a business organization. Others felt the lead editorial's explanation of the paper's decision unfairly dismissed the P.U.M.P.K.I.N. Society in a way that was inappropriate and undeserved.
Readers who took up the first position noted that when researching an event in the University's history, the first place most students and University organizations look to is either Corks and Curls or the student paper to gauge student reactions. For this reason, one reader claimed, The Cavalier Daily has an obligation to make sure all
opinions are heard, including that of the P.U.M.P.K.I.N. Society. Refusing to publish names based on the paper's status as a business is wrong since a main part of the paper's business is documenting University events. For this reason, the five members of an editorial board should have some control, but not total control, over what history is to be remembered.
I believe a number of issues are wrongly connected here. First, the editorial page of the paper may be of use in learning of some popular student opinions, but it is certainly not the place to learn of student events. Some may argue that the P.U.M.P.K.I.N. Society's awards were newsworthy and deserved articles in the news section. That, however, is a separate issue from whether the paper has an obligation to publish an ad when the terms of a contract -- no matter how petty and ridiculous -- have not been met. Personally, I caught on that the main reason for refusing to publish the ad was the perceived mean-spiritedness of the gourd award -- not the wrong candy payment. To many, unfortunately, this was not clear.
Perhaps this is the reason I did not find myself as bothered by the tone of the editorial as other readers. Some were angered by the opinion expressed in the "article" on the P.U.M.P.K.I.N. Society. To those, I can only say that it was an editorial, perhaps not as funny as intended, but certainly not meant to be seen as a piece of unbiased journalism. Others were concerned that the editorial made light of the award by refusing to name those who were honored. I believe the paper should have published the names of recipients as a news article in the Life section (rather than leaving them for another editorial to name on Wednesday). I do not believe, however, that the editorial ridiculed the award recipients or their honor in any way. They may have treated them discourteously by not publishing their names, but nothing in the editorial claimed that those who received awards were undeserving.
One final note, the writers of a lead editorial are always the members of the editorial board or other staff -- their names are left off such editorials because they are presumed to represent the institutional opinion of the paper.
All's Fair Between Love and Writers?
Turning to another issue, the paper's policies once again come into question regarding the Managing Board's refusal to allow students to write for The Cavalier Daily after writing articles for other publications at the University.
According to one reader, the school's student newspaper has an obligation to accept well-written, well-researched submissions from student volunteers and, by refusing to do so, the paper dishonors its unspoken responsibility to the University community. All registered University students "ought to be allowed to write articles for the school's newspaper at any time they want, regardless of whether or not they write for different publications." After all, this reader argues, this is the only way many would-be journalists can get adequate clips to send in to prospective employers.
Sorry, folks, but while the only people with a right to write for the paper may be students, this does not translate into an open article submission policy. Putting together a student newspaper is hard work that requires commitment and dedication. This is why we have staff writers. Journalists at the University are hindered by not having a journalism department. The way to counteract this, though, is to stay with a publication and work your way through the ranks -- not to act as a student freelancer.
Still, I do not believe this means former staff members from one publication should not be allowed to make a change -- and that is not what the policy says. The policy in question comes from Appendix Two of the paper's policy manual and states that "staff members at any level should not have any involvement with any other news-gathering student publication, including submission of guest columns." According to my interpretation of this passage, it is assumed the projects of staff members should be limited to the paper so long as they are on staff. It does not say that writers for other publications can never write for The Cavalier Daily. It only forces you to be committed to your current publication.
Do you have any questions? A bone of contention? Write me at ombudsman@cavalierdaily.com.
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