Editorial
Editorial Responsiblity
By Editorial Staff
April 10, 2015
Student publications exist for a variety of reasons. Some believe they are a catch all for public opinion. Others think they are meant to articulate one voice. Newspapers struggle with questions of objectivity, opinion and how to provide information fairly yet purposefully. They are meant to inform, but to what end? And this self-determination is only heightened by the collaborative nature of any newspaper. Writers create; editors shape; senior staff envision. Even if they share a common goal, their execution can still be confused. The Spectator is not immune to these problems. Last week we encountered them and handled them poorly.
As a Media Board publication, The Spectator editorial board works hard to ensure the quality of every issue published. We believe that generally our efforts pay off and our newspaper remains at a high standard. Student media is challenging specifically because we do not have financial incentive for our writers or editors. We rely on our friends and colleagues to write for us.
Last week’s issue of The Spectator featured what was supposed to be a review of a recent movie shown by a Hamilton College student group. We asked a student whom we knew had attended the movie to write this. What we received was not so much a movie review, but rather seemed to be a politically charged essay. This is where our judgment erred. Rather than rejecting the article, we attempted to edit the article to fit the section, and in doing so we made a poor choice. We do not wish to suppress any view, and believe that it should have been submitted to our opinion section. We hold ourselves to a high standard for factual reporting and accurate articles, and we failed to do so in this regard, for that we apologize.
The Spectator will continue to strive to achieve the best in student journalism. We believe that student publications do not exist for a select group of students to air out their personal grievances, but rather they exist for the greater good of the College. Editorial power is a great thing that must be wielded with care. All publications must surpass their editors’ personal feelings to ensure that their content serves the public interest at large.
We, as an editorial board, serve the entire campus community. We provide news, features, sports, opinion and arts and entertainment pieces that are designed to be applicable to everyone on campus and in the wider community. We will continue to hold ourselves to this high standard that we have in the past, and will publish pieces that are appropriate and timely.