This week’s paper and a handful of events in the past week have reminded me how difficult it is to be a student and a journalist at the same time.
I’m not talking about the scheduling conflicts between a 60-hour workweek at the Free Press and a full course load – I’m talking about the various potential conflicts of interest with which student journalists grapple when they write about the university with which their lives are entwined.
As editor of this newspaper, it has been very much to the benefit of both myself and my staff that I have spent the last five years making connections across campus. I played lacrosse, ran the outing club, was a student senator and have been involved with the board of student organizations, the honors program and first and foremost, the English department.
I know people. I know how systems work. I’ve been around – which, I think, allows the Free Press to cover things it might not otherwise have had access to or knowledge of.
And yet, as the one making the ultimate decisions on what does and doesn’t go into this newspaper – as well as being a writer of some of that content – I am constantly faced with decisions that at any professional newspaper would probably be considered conflicts of interest.
Ben Taylor, our next student body president, is a close friend. How, therefore, can I make honest decisions about our coverage of him as he enters his term?
And this week’s coverage of the outing club (which I am proud to announce has been named student organization of the year under the recent leadership of Eric Favreau) – am I justified in running the article? Is it wrong of me for choosing them over another club? Would it be fair if I chose another instead, simply because of my involvement?
And covering women’s lacrosse (and sports in general) – as a former USM athlete, I feel a special pressure to be careful with coverage of the athletics department.
While they understand that I cannot ethically protect them from the media, I also feel dedicated to the student athletes with whom I share a sort of understanding.
I feel like I have been able to bring better coverage to the athletic department because, as an athlete, I understand its inner workings; I know the games and rivalries that warrant coverage because I used to play in them.
This is an ongoing struggle – and not one a student editor can ever escape.
I guess I say these things in the interest of transparency. As our newspaper continues to become more and more professional, the pressure on us becomes that much stronger – and yet we cannot avoid potential conflicts.
I will be writing stories on the women’s lacrosse team – because with a shortage of sports writers (and the advantage of my knowledge of the game), I will not always have a choice.
I will be assigning (and possibly writing, for the same reason) stories on the English department – because the drama that goes on between its more than 50 faculty (of whom 21 are full-time) has been likened by university staff to a “pit of vipers,” and is reaching the point at which students find themselves caught in the midst of things (one of the major reasons some programs were put on Mark Lapping’s evaluation list, if you will recall).
My only hope – and a large part of the conflict – is that they let me graduate in peace, whatever happens.
But, whatever happens, bear with us. We cannot cover everything. And we cannot cover everything perfectly or without conflicts of interest, no matter how hard we try.
We avoid them where we can. And we hope you trust our judgment when we can’t.
Sarah Trent
Executive Editor