This special edition of the Emerald is a combination of our regular news coverage and a service for students. It serves returning students by giving them an idea of what happened here on campus during the summer, and with hope it will show new students exactly what they have gotten themselves into.
In a way, it is an attempt to help those returning from their long summer breaks get back into the daily campus grind, and for wide-eyed freshmen to find their place on campus. To some, a few stories may seem simple and rehashed, but one must understand that, to others, those same stories offer valuable information about services, issues and people here at the University and in the greater Eugene area.
We have also added several columns throughout the front section of the paper for folks to provide a “message to the campus” in the hopes that students and faculty will better understand some of the people who are regularly reported on in the Emerald’s coverage.
But this “Back to the Books” issue is more than just a way to pick up the threads of the University neighborhood — it is also our chance as the staff of the Emerald to show the campus what this newspaper can offer. This is the only professional and unbiased news outlet on campus. Regardless what some may say, the Emerald staff genuinely attempts to incorporate all voices in campus debate and report only substantiated, unquestionable facts. It is our mission as journalists to provide that service to our readers, and it is one that we all take extremely serious, from reporters to copy editors.
One can argue that editorially the Emerald has often leaned to the left in the past years, and one could likely expect that to continue this school year. But then one also has to understand that the commentary section of the newspaper is distinctly separate from our news sections.
While we hope that opinion pages will encourage a lively debate of campus issues, the Emerald staff also hopes that its coverage of the news will provide our readers with information they can use to formulate serious opinions on the events that occur around them. And that is our true purpose: To help you, the reader, react in an informed and sensible way to the news that affects you.
The Emerald is the one newspaper in Eugene that is devoted to reporting on what transpires here on campus. Students should be aware of that and look to the Emerald as their one source for news about the events that are closest to home. Other newspapers in Eugene do a relatively good job of covering what goes on in this area, but only the Emerald is reporting student news. We try to provide the best product for our readers in how we decide on what to cover and how to package that same material.
So while this one, extraordinarily large paper is a service to students, it also is an expression of why our staff is doing this work. Sure it does pad our resumes and trains us for the real world, but behind the cynical and ambivalent facade of most of us, a part of every staff member firmly believes that we provide a valuable service to the campus community. As amazing and improbable as it may sound to some, we actually do believe that when we put out the Emerald we are doing something positive for the campus in general.
But for the Emerald to be the as successful as possible in that task, we need help from our readers. More often than not a typical complaint of the Emerald is that it does not reflect what students really care about, or is too distanced from readers. There are cases where the Emerald seems to report only to a select audience; student government is a good example of this, but it is the prerogative of the readers to let us know what is missing and what they want.
While the Emerald will continue to cover what we deem most news-worthy, a key element of that decision is the feedback we receive from our readers. Often times reporters will get in touch with those who write “letters to the editor” to follow up on their concerns to see if there is a larger story. This is the student paper and as such it is always open to the feedback and suggestions of the readers, who are mainly students. The newsroom is filled with people whose job it is too know exactly what is going on, so when a reader calls with a suggestion or tip, the Emerald’s response should be interest and appreciation.
It has been an interesting, educational and fun time putting out the Emerald this summer, and this upcoming year should offer the same opportunities for the Emerald’s staff. Hopefully that same staff can continue to put out the best product possible for the campus area.