With the new school year comes a new staff of dedicated employees at the Emerald. Each year this news organization sees dozens upon dozens of students contributing to various aspects of producing a daily newspaper.
Despite the turnover that is inherent to this job, the Emerald’s editors have established a sequence of values intended to reflect patterns in who and what this newspaper strives to be. These values are also intended to provide an overarching definition of what we cover.
These values are different from our mission statement, which says that the Emerald’s principal purpose is to publish a student newspaper and provide an educational opportunity for young journalists to grow.
The Emerald is opening these values to the public to create a window for public about the decision making process that goes on here. They are listed in no particular order.
? Seek truth about the world and report it back to the University community.
This value stems from the inherent purpose of a newspaper, which is to report information to those it affects. Truth, goes beyond simply reporting what is new around the University community. It is exposing lies and wrongdoing, as well as stories about triumph and success. It also means we will reflect the people who read our newspaper and write stories that provide insight into the human condition.
? Serve as a voice for, and facilitate discussion among, the student body and University community.
This value is mostly facilitated in our commentary page. We want to represent students through our commentary and editorials, and in our coverage. This also means that we strongly encourage participation from readers. If readers feel like they have something to say, we want to publish it and serve as a forum for debate. We strongly encourage readers to submit their guest commentaries and letters to the editor.
? Be a watchdog on the actions of the University administration, student government and Athletic Department.
An important function all newspapers have is to keep an eye on the actions of those who govern. Within the University, those who govern have a responsibility and an obligation to do what is in the best interests of this institution in the most ethically sound fashion. In turn, it is our responsibility to ensure that those we trust to guide us are doing so in good faith. A University has a tremendous public duty to train and educate young people to become future leaders of this world. It is important that those who teach the future leaders are doing so.
? Report the news accurately and as timely as possible.
Inaccurate information is not useful and can be dangerous. Generally, people discern their views and opinions by what they read or see in the media. If the initial information that sparks their feelings is incorrect, then they could take action in such a way that could be the opposite of what they would have done otherwise. Timeliness is also important. The Emerald strives to tell readers what we know, when we know it. This may however conflict our value of being accurate, because we will only print stories that we feel are accurate and that have presented both sides to every issue, which can take time. Nevertheless, the Emerald does not intend to report stale information.
? Uphold the highest ethical standards of journalism.
It would be hypocritical of our values to hold other groups accountable yet not hold those within our own organization up to our own ethical standard. For that, we look to our readers to inform us of when they think the Emerald is being unfair or unethical.