Midway through production on Saturday night, the handful of Free Press staff still awake to copy-edit pages decided that this was our “exposé” issue.
Full of attempts to uncover what’s going on around here – telling why Words + Images published without images, how USM enrollment might actually be aided by a national recession and printing “confidential” email correspondences between administrators – we felt a little bit, well, dirty.
Torn between the slightly giddy feeling of being able to expose things the general USM population never sees and the thought that a few people might not be happy to read about it, I was confronted with a quasi-moral question.
What is the job of the campus newspaper? What is the job of ANY newspaper?
The story on campus intramurals that ran this week in the sports section was assigned to be another sort of “exposé” story – the question we wanted answered was why USM has an office dedicated to intramural and club sports, and yet so few students are aware of them.
The story failed on all counts. I don’t mean to attack the writer, because he’s one of our star sports reporters, but the story that came out is a one-interview advertisement for an intramurals program whose website hasn’t been updated in years and whose events seem to be known to few, if any, students.
We were open to changing our minds on that topic, had the writer found students to testify on its behalf. But he couldn’t reach any. Because of space, we ran the story as it was.
Regardless of the status of the intramurals program, the story itself serves as an opposite to the stories written about Words + Images, the 26 programs up for suspension and USM enrollment.
Is it our job to be unconditionally supportive of what goes on at USM? Or is it our job to keep what goes on in check?
I’d like to think it’s a careful mix of both.
As an involved student, I know that positive things happen at USM, and I’m eager to talk about them. Thinking Matters, also featured in this issue, is a pretty cool event that happens every year and features a ton of great work done by students and staff working together.
The women’s lacrosse team, whose rookie players are featured in the sports section, just won their fifth game of the last seven – an accomplishment I can be proud of as a former member of the team, which has been improving over the years despite a lack of incoming players and a series of turnovers in coaching staff.
We like to talk about these great achievements.
But if we don’t also talk about the mistakes, we aren’t serving our purpose as journalists, I think.
Professor Matt Killmeier, who I have now for a media studies course, has complained more than once about the lack of coverage of local government by the Portland media.
Without watchful media, government can get away with nearly anything, he argues.
And he’s right.
By explaining mistakes and failures, I feel that we’re keeping students, faculty and the community informed of what happens beyond the PR notices that make the front of the USM website.
By calling these things out, we’re not trying to damage reputations, we’re not trying to get anyone in trouble, we’re exposing the moments people would rather cover up – therefore encouraging them to have nothing more TO cover up.
Legally, we have access to nearly all the documentation of everything that goes on in this university, including emails between administrators. As a public institution, the public has the right to know what’s going on within its walls.
I’ll admit that we can’t cover it all, since we’re also trying to pass our classes and make rent, but we try.
I think the university would probably be better off, in the long run, if we were able to do more.
Perhaps a stronger student newspaper would help curb the lack of student involvement on campus by encouraging students to know what’s going on and to ask questions when things smell a little funny.
Yes, I suppose this is our “exposé” issue. Yes, I hope that there will be more like it.
Yes, faculty, administration, students, staff – we’re paying attention.
And while we welcome the chance to write about your accomplishments, please understand that sometimes, it’s better for the university when we cover a little bit more.
Sarah Trent
Executive Editor