Oftentimes we receive letters to the editor in criticism of our actions. Sometimes I find these criticisms unfounded, and when I do it’s usually because of a lack of knowledge about the mechanics of The Free Press. I feel inclined to clarify a few issues brought up by reader Jason Libby. For Mr. Libby’s letter, in full, go to page nine.
Libby: Can someone explain to me how the Free Press has become more of an editorial paper than an informative campus news source? From what I have seen in since the beginning of this semester has been nothing but personal opinions and rambling from staff. You’re taking away from your writers who actually write news stories.
Me: There is a section in most newspapers known as the editorial section. This section is specifically designated for staff and columnists to examine an issue and formulate an opinion. This section in The Free Press is titled Perspectives.
Libby: Have any of you actually taken a journalism course?
Me. Because there is no journalism major on campus and only one newswriting class offered, there aren’t a lot of training opportunities for writers aside from the ones the staff creates. This includes putting together group workshops in the fundamentals of journalism such as interviewing, ethics, writing style, and note taking as well as one-on-one training. We do this in addition to writing and editing copy. We also have an advisory board made up of newspaper professionals who we rely on to offer their time and expertise for training purposes. The Free Press has produced many successful journalists, some of which currently work for news radio WMTW, The Press Herald and other news organizations. But yes, for the most part our writers walk in the door untrained.
Libby: [On Dan Goldstein] Assign him a real story, and drop Down with Schlock and Awful, because it is downright awful writing. Replace it with a student column written by non-staff members.
Me: For the most part, our columnists are non-staff writers. A staff writer is somebody who walks in the door wanting to learn the rigors of journalism. We assign them stories and work with them on improving the basics. Staff writers primarily write news stories which are formulated and not opinion-based, whereas columnists write opinion-based articles on topics of their choice. The Free Press has set column guidelines which apply to anybody interested in writing a column.
Libby: Next is the editor. Buying beer for a student function. How many of them are under 21? While I don’t agree with how you run the Free Press, I had always held a slight bit of respect for you, until that.
Me: If you look back to Issue 8 (where you first read about the incident), you will find no students under 21 were present. Since I’d attended on-campus activities where alcohol was served the rules concerning University functions and alcohol were unclear to me. If this warrants a loss of respect from readers I have no control of that but I took responsibility for my actions in reporting the incident. If you disapprove of the way The Free Press is run I’d appreciate hearing your suggestions for improvement.
Christy McKinnon can be contacted at [email protected]