The Cavalier Daily
Serving the University Community Since 1890

Focusing news coverage to better serve student community

WITHOUT a doubt, The Cavalier Daily is a student newspaper. Yet, at the same time the paper is also a self-supporting, independent business. During the next two weeks, I'll be examining some of the concerns of readers stemming from the paper's sometimes conflicting roles as an independent, student-led newspaper.

Why Cover National News?

I received a number of comments this week on the paper's varying commitment to cover national and world news. While many agree that the paper's dedication to expanding the knowledge base of student readers and keeping the community informed of world and national events is commendable, The Cavalier Daily often has too little space to dedicate to this section to make it worthwhile.

Often, only one or two issues are raised out of the many filling the front pages of larger papers, leading some readers to question whether this news section does more harm than good. After all, if students assume that the news they receive from their student paper is adequate - and few familiar with world and national events would agree that it is - won't they be less inclined to keep up with other news publications? Won't students and other readers ultimately be less informed than if the student paper didn't cover world and national news at all?

The real weight of this criticism is that it points to an area where The Cavalier Daily cannot satisfy the demands of a student or community paper. First, a student paper cannot adequately cover national and world news for a community. Some may forcefully argue that this role isn't being fulfilled by any local paper and I wouldn't disagree, but I do know that the size restraints on our paper make it impossible for us to regularly cover news that doesn't directly affect our own community.

Second, as a student paper, it is important that The Cavalier Daily give interested students at the University the opportunity to actively participate in journalism (this goal is rendered even more important by the University's lack of a journalism department). The Cavalier Daily's national and world news, however, comes not from student reporters but from the AP newswire.

Of course, there is no way we can fund student coverage of such news, but I question in general our practice of paying - a subscription to the AP newswire is expensive - for news that neither benefits student writers nor adequately supplies the need for information of our community. Wouldn't it be better for the paper to use that extra money to pay for more color photos or travel expenses for actual students to better cover state and local news?

In recent weeks, we have seen a number of well-written articles on issues like affirmative action and the local political races. Still, I wonder where articles on the current budget dispute are hiding. The Cavalier Daily provides a service by both training future news writers and keeping us informed of news with well-written student articles. The Nation and World section does neither adequately. We need to focus our news coverage and our spending to ensure that we continue to succeed in our areas of strength as a community and student newspaper.

Diverse Reporting

Diversity is presently a popular concept on Grounds, but some readers worry that it's an empty goal at the paper. Despite numerous editorials praising the value of a diverse student body as a means for both broadening and raising our minds, very little minority representation is apparent in The Cavalier Daily itself.

We have columns written by University students spending a semester abroad, but there are no columns presenting the views or lives of foreign students actually in residence at the University. If diversity is really such a great thing - even necessary for a good college experience - shouldn't the student paper serve as a forum for minority students to express their viewpoints as well? Numerous groups of foreign students exist on Grounds. I encourage you all to send in letters to the editor or join the staff - let us know what you think. Diversity without communication is pointless.

Good Reporting on Admissions

One reader criticized Wednesday's front-page article on tracking children of past and potential donors during the admissions process ("College Development Office Tracks Wealthy Applicants," Oct. 27), claiming "it has not been demonstrated convincingly that the process is being unduly influenced by the presence of these lists." Explaining his argument through an analogy between the editorial and advertising staffs at a news publication, the reader notes that the fact that a list exists of top sponsors should not be assumed to unduly influence an editor's decisions.

Just as we can't assume editorial integrity is lost in such procedures, we also cannot assume the integrity of the admissions process is lost through donor tracking: "the most that Blackburn admits to in the CD's (sic) coverage is that a student's standing may be influenced by his family's potential role as a donor, but that this is never used as the sole factor for a student's admission."

We must actually compare the qualifications of students admitted through tracking before we can assess the integrity of the process and this, says the reader, The Cavalier Daily does not do.

As always, I appreciate reader comments, but what I believe the staff did not do was say that the integrity of the admissions process was absolutely compromised by tracking of donors. Such a claim would require further investigative reporting on behalf of the staff - reporting on the qualifications of individual students at the University, which I doubt I would support.

What do you think about the admissions process and our coverage of the issue? Let me know at ombudsman@cavalierdaily.com.

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