Every newspaper faces the same questions on a regular basis: how do we decide what to print? What is newsworthy?
At a school like Whitman, that is small and generally happy, sometimes we don’t have urgent, breaking news. Sometimes, although we try to avoid it, we must use filler, “fluff,” material. But inevitably, we face sensitive issues, about which we must decide how to act.
This has lately been a concern for us. We have received requests to not cover certain issues, and some angry letters responding to articles we have run. Some question our right to print certain things, while others question our ability to investigate and produce a hard-hitting story.
We face a difficult dilemma, because Whitman is a small school, and the Pioneer is a smaller newspaper. We don’t want to ruin anyone’s lives. But we also want to print actual news. If we only run uncontroversial topics, our paper would be sole propaganda: “Look how great life is here! Come to Whitman, we’re all happy!”
We face an even greater dilemma, because the people and issues we write about are often part of our everyday lives. We at the Pioneer are not only newspaper staff: we are students and friends, teammates and club members, employees and contributors to ASWC.
It is difficult to interview that professor, when you may be turning in a paper for his class next week. It is difficult to write that article about a friend, when you might know her and care about her deeply. And it is difficult to write about the administration or the student government, when they decide some student issues, govern us and provide our newspaper’s budget.
In response to these complicated situations, we have begun the process of drafting our own Code of Ethics, using the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics as a starting point. This code believes that “public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy,” and that “the duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues.” The code has four main tenets: Seek truth and report it, minimize harm, act independently and be accountable.
It is our promise to you that with every potentially questionable article, we consider the right of the public to know. We try to be as sensitive as we can to people’s personal lives and emotions. We are as honest and thorough as possible, regardless of who our subject matter might be. And finally, we are accountable for what we write, mistakes and all.
Errors will inevitably occur: we may unknowingly misreport, we may inadvertently allow bias to creep it, we may anger readers for a number of reasons. We do our best not to, but we understand that for the kind of paper that we are it is a risk we face. Yet our goal is never to slander anyone or hurt anyone’s feelings. Our goal is only to accurately reflect student lives and issues to our readers. Even if we do our job competently, hurt feelings may still be a byproduct of this goal, but it is never our intent to cause them.
As we’ve said, we promise to continue to do the best job that we know how to do, based on these guidelines that we’ve set forth. But furthermore, we promise to continue to take feedback and criticism very seriously. If you read something you are unhappy about, let us know: if you need to, be angry. Be outraged. But be constructive.
So help us to improve the Pioneer: our unattainable goal is a perfect paper, and the input of every person will help us inch by inch, word-by-word, come closer to it. Don’t write off the Pio. Get out that pen, and write to it.
