3-13-09: Mistakes, we've made a few...
By: Andrew Bruner
Issue date: 3/10/09 Section: Editor's blog
Posted March 13, 2009
1:55 a.m.
In Friday's issue of The DePauw, Professor Alicia Suarez has a compelling letter to the editor expressing disappointment with a story in our March 6 issue titled "Former porn star discusses transition to sex education." She touches on several topics that are key to The DePauw's (or any newspaper's) mission: accuracy, clarity and the allusive concept of taste.
I wrote a response letter, also in Friday's issue, detailing how the mistakes Suarez points out occurred. The reporter on the story left the event before it was over, and consequently got some facts wrong. She now knows that that's unacceptable, and I frankly think this experience will help her grow as a reporter. Lucy First has done some very good reporting and writing for The DePauw already as a freshman, and I have no doubt she'll continue to do so despite this mishap.
I want to address one issue Suarez brings up more fully here: how The DePauw's status as a college newspaper affects our mission to present accurate information.
The fact is that The DePauw is an institution operating with people learning while they work. At the lower level staff positions, that means we don't turn away people without journalism experience who want to work for us. I think that's the way it should be. I've said before that The DePauw is a teaching newspaper; we train people how to report, write, take photos, design pages, etc. as they produce work for the paper.
The downside is that sometimes people make, frankly, rookie mistakes.
The upside is that some people who come in knowing nothing discover they love journalism. I can speak from experience here. I'd never reported a news article of any kind before coming to DePauw; now I want newspapers (or written journalism in whatever new form it may take) to be my life's work.
I doubt this is the last time that a mistake like what happened with the 'porn speaker' story will happen at The DePauw, but those mistakes are the exception. I don't think those mistakes keeps us from making a quality newspaper that helps DePauw community members understand what's going on at our University and what different ideas are out there.
I don't want to leave this post on a 'Look how good The DePauw is' note. Getting criticism isn't fun, but it's necessary, and I take every word of feedback the newspaper gets seriously - good or bad. Please let me know what you like and dislike about The DePauw, and especially what confuses you about it. I believe that the more engaged our audience is with our work, the better the newspaper will be.
1:55 a.m.
In Friday's issue of The DePauw, Professor Alicia Suarez has a compelling letter to the editor expressing disappointment with a story in our March 6 issue titled "Former porn star discusses transition to sex education." She touches on several topics that are key to The DePauw's (or any newspaper's) mission: accuracy, clarity and the allusive concept of taste.
I wrote a response letter, also in Friday's issue, detailing how the mistakes Suarez points out occurred. The reporter on the story left the event before it was over, and consequently got some facts wrong. She now knows that that's unacceptable, and I frankly think this experience will help her grow as a reporter. Lucy First has done some very good reporting and writing for The DePauw already as a freshman, and I have no doubt she'll continue to do so despite this mishap.
I want to address one issue Suarez brings up more fully here: how The DePauw's status as a college newspaper affects our mission to present accurate information.
The fact is that The DePauw is an institution operating with people learning while they work. At the lower level staff positions, that means we don't turn away people without journalism experience who want to work for us. I think that's the way it should be. I've said before that The DePauw is a teaching newspaper; we train people how to report, write, take photos, design pages, etc. as they produce work for the paper.
The downside is that sometimes people make, frankly, rookie mistakes.
The upside is that some people who come in knowing nothing discover they love journalism. I can speak from experience here. I'd never reported a news article of any kind before coming to DePauw; now I want newspapers (or written journalism in whatever new form it may take) to be my life's work.
I doubt this is the last time that a mistake like what happened with the 'porn speaker' story will happen at The DePauw, but those mistakes are the exception. I don't think those mistakes keeps us from making a quality newspaper that helps DePauw community members understand what's going on at our University and what different ideas are out there.
I don't want to leave this post on a 'Look how good The DePauw is' note. Getting criticism isn't fun, but it's necessary, and I take every word of feedback the newspaper gets seriously - good or bad. Please let me know what you like and dislike about The DePauw, and especially what confuses you about it. I believe that the more engaged our audience is with our work, the better the newspaper will be.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Riley Ray
posted 4/17/09 @ 4:09 AM EST
All I can say is way to own it. You're a teaching newspaper. And you only get better by trying. But, that said, keep the corrections section front and center so that the public knows, while you ARE trying your best, you're also ready to admit your worst. (Continued…)
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