The new Managing Board of The Cavalier Daily laid out their mission in the lead editorial published in the Feb. 2 issue: “to provide the University community with new, relevant and insightful information that inspires critical conversation and even action on Grounds.” Later in the same piece the Board struck upon something I think is and should be a defining characteristic, that The Cavalier Daily is the “platform for the student narrative” at the University. The board also wrote that they are determined to be proactive and that is where I think the staff of The Cavalier Daily can be of unique service to their community.
Though I pointed out some issues with sources and sourcing last week, the reporters of The Cavalier Daily generally do a good job of telling us what happened. But, as with much news reporting, it is after the fact and in many cases informs us all about an event or issue, but too late to do anything about it should one wish. I wrote a column last year about coverage around the renewal of the dining services contract between the University and Aramark. In it, I wished for both deeper and broader coverage of such a story. Deeper and broader coverage of critical stories is precisely how The Cavalier Daily can fulfill its mission for the community.
I have also noted in the past that The Cavalier Daily is often at its best when the news reporters and opinion writers are pointed at the same topic. Usually this results in a specialized print issue. It doesn’t necessarily need to, though. With a proactive stance on investigating, finding and reporting the news, Opinion writers can also be informed and think about their own positions on the topic. Where Opinion writers disagree, readers might get differing opinions to consider. Yes, the line between news and opinion needs to remain clear but where there is news, there is opinion and The Cavalier Daily has a unique ability to both report the news well and offer student perspective on that news.
Beyond being able to offer a student perspective on stories and issues, there are stories that no one else will report on nor investigate. Indeed, a Google search about the dining services contract renewal turned up a University press release and a 160-word staff report in the Daily Progress, both from just after the new contract was formalized. The Cavalier Daily was the only outlet that did any real reporting at all about the contract. For other news organizations there was nothing particularly newsworthy about something as seemingly boring as a dining services contract. For the University community, though, it is a critical element in day-to-day life affecting thousands of people.
This is where the new Managing Board’s determination to be proactive and tell the narrative of the student here at the University is so critical. Finding stories like that but then telling that story from the experience and perspective of students does a service for the students in the community but also gives non-students a way to better understand what is happening in the community. In the case of the dining services contract, it wasn’t only about what students would eat but also how workers would be compensated and treated. Students were active in calling for and demanding better terms for the staff. The student experience was a complex one, as it usually is.
Ultimately, much of news reporting is after the fact and there is little help for it. I support as strongly as I can the proactive stance of the Managing Board, though. I hope they will seek and find stories that cut across the experiences of students. I hope they will delve as deeply as possible into those stories while also casting as wide a net as they can to consider how the story will ripple out from the University.
Christopher Broom is the Public Editor for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at publiceditor@cavalierdaily.com or on Twitter at @CDpubliceditor.
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