THE MARCH 20 lead editorial, "A declaration of policy," clarified The Cavalier Daily's "policy prohibiting its staffers to write for other news gathering publications on Grounds." The paper came under attack the week before Spring Break in The Declaration's letters to the editor section ("Writer wrong," March 7) when "Trudy Verdad" asked, "As a Cav Daily writer, can I write for the Dec too?" The Managing Board of The Cavalier Daily made the right move in addressing this issue in its proper lead editorial format. Although the editorial was well written and obviously well informed, several key points were left out. In light of the editorial's omissions, the Managing Board needs to take these arguments into consideration and alter its policy.
As the editorial explains, the newspaper's policy defense boils down to issues of objectivity and credibility. A primarily news gathering publication, The Cavalier Daily gains credibility with readers through its objective approach to reporting. Fair enough.
But, rather than establishing a hard-and-fast rule, the Managing Board needs to reexamine this policy on a case-by-case basis. There may be certain articles that a Cavalier Daily staff member in any position should not be permitted to write for The Declaration or another publication. On the flip side, though, there are definitely articles that would not bring up any questionable content. Such uncontroversial articles would not serve to damage the writer's reputation or the reputation of The Cavalier Daily in general. The Managing Board deserves to protect itself and work in the best interests of The Cavalier Daily. It needs, though, to be fair to its writers as well.
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The editorial's closing line is deceiving: "Anyone in the community is free to experiment before they commit to The Cavalier Daily, but if writers choose this paper, they choose only this paper."
Over the years, aspiring writers have taken jobs writing for The Daily Progress, the main newspaper serving the Charlottesville community, while on staff at The Cavalier Daily. Clearly, when they chose The Cavalier Daily, they did not choose just this paper. In the news market, The Daily Progress competes for many of the same top news stories The Cavalier Daily strives to cover. Even though The Daily Progress is not produced on Grounds, it is a more similar competitor in terms of style and content than The Declaration or another similar University publication.
The amount of experimentation allowed with other news gathering publications on Grounds is slim to none. A writer is considered "committed" to The Cavalier Daily if she is a senior writer or a staff writer that shows up regularly to write. One can become a senior writer after publishing merely three articles. So, a new writer might be forced to make a premature decision.
It is too bad writers are forced to decide so soon. It is too bad writers are forced to decide at all, especially when The Cavalier Daily and The Declaration are two very different publications. One is a primary source for news; one is a primary source for entertainment, even if it is a self-proclaimed newsmagazine. One comes out every day; one comes out once a week. A student interested in a potential career as a journalist, no doubt, wants to build a diverse portfolio to establish himself as a versatile writer. It is difficult to achieve this goal when trapped into one publication. The Cavalier Daily's experimental grace period is both unfair and inconsistent.
Inconsistency enters the scene when the Managing Board declares The Cavalier Daily's ownership of its writers while leaving out other significant contributors. What about non-literary staffers? Specifically, what about students who express their opinions visually? Case in point: Kyle Gabler.
Gabler's comic "Drool" runs every day in the Cavalier Daily, and his distinct art floods the pages of The Declaration. His daily comic often encapsulates a strong viewpoint. It is not going too far to suggest that a cartoonist could jeopardize the community's opinion of the newspaper just as easily as a writer. Additionally, Gabler's cartoons rely heavily on text. His text and opinions fundamentally are no different from the text and opinions of an opinion columnist, and his opinion runs every day.
The Managing Board, however, does not address this issue. Kyle Gabler should be allowed to continue working for both publications, because his work in one is unrelated to the other. If the Managing Board is going to take such a hard-and-fast stance against publishing work in other forums, it needs to practice what it preaches. Nonetheless, it needs to reconsider aspects of this policy.
The Cavalier Daily has a virtual monopoly on the University's news market - it doesn't need to monopolize its staff members as well. It is time for a new declaration of policy.
(Stephanie Batten's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at sbatten@cavalierdaily.com.)
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