Earning of public's trust essential
Campus Times
October 24, 1997
"Morgan seizes failing department."
It was the top-story headline of last week's paper and it got a lot of people
bent out of shape. They had good reason.
The story was incomplete. I admit that. We dropped the ball. Not on
purpose, but by neglect and plain sloppiness.
Was the headline accurate? Was it sensational? It is a tough call. President
Stephen Morgan did tell a Campus Times reporter, "We should
be growing, not shrinking," and cited the slight decline in enrollment
at the University as one of the reasons for his increased involvement in
the several offices of enrollment services.
Still, we did not talk to all the people involved in the story. They
would have better explained the facts. I, as the editor in chief, left too
many holes in the story when I sent it to print and should have made sure
more sources were spoken to.
For that, I apologize.
It isn't often that we completely miss the mark, and when we do it on
an important story like this, it deserves an apology.
Every time a controversial story comes out in the Campus Times,
there are people angry at the newspaper. They call it the National Enquirer
and try to make us feel bad about whatever subject we have disclosed.
When we cover the story completely and fairly, I do not feel the least
bit sorry, or wrong, or guilty for printing whatever the public deserves
to know. It is our job.
When we do the job the wrong way however, I feel we have let the public
down. I feel a loss of credibility and I feel like the National Enquirer.
And that is how I feel right now.
I realize that we will make mistakes. We are students studying journalism
the way every student at the University of La Verne is studying their major.
We are learning how to be journalists the way every student is learning
the right and wrong way to be whatever they choose to become.
The difference is that we learn the hard way, as every member of the
La Verne community and beyond has the opportunity to publicly critique our
work, and sometimes their egos make them less than constructive when they
point out our short comings.
I suppose that is the way it should be, since student journalists like
myself will soon make a living putting our names and reputations on what
we write. The public will know us by what we report, and when we do it wrong,
they will lose trust in us.
The public has already lost a sense of trust in professional journalists
of today. The words "Hard Copy," and "Inside Edition"
just do not sound as respectable as the names of yesterday. We have forgotten
our old respectable figures like Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, Walter Cronkite
and Edward R. Murrow. They were America's informants and they made a living
based on earning the public's trust. They were trusted because they did
journalism the right way. That's the way I want to do it, and when stories
like last week's slip by, it tarnishes the already bad reputation of the
press.
As the newest class of journalists, we are public servants, dedicated
to informing our peers of the facts they deserve to know. Maybe not all
want the public to know the dark, inefficient side of their life, trade
or organization, but part of democracy is allowing the public the right
to know the truth.
When we as journalists fail the public, our purpose is defeated.
We failed the students of the University of La Verne last week. The
only thing we can do now is get back on the horse, start on the next issue
and hope to get better.
Every "failing department" at this University is subject to
criticism from the newspaper of the students. We at the Campus Times
do not believe we are an exception.
It is my hope that the players of this University remember what values
we strive to keep everyday in the Campus Times newsroom.
We stand by the right to report the truth accurately, fairly, honestly
and completely.
When we fail, we need to know and we are open to that criticism.
It is not always easy to admit when your department, office, organization
or campus newspaper is not making the grade, but you have to call it like
you see it. Our lack of information was an inappropriate call.
Live and learn and then, let go. It is part of life, and as for struggling
young journalists like myself, these tough lessons will only make us that
much better in the future.
For the sake of the news business that we will soon be thrust into,
it is definitely better that way.
Andrea Gardner, a senior broadcast journalism major, is editor in
chief of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at gardnera@ulv.edu.
