A Wise Man Loves Truth, Reproof

I love Journalism.

I love working at the Patriot Talon.

     I enjoy these things because I am passionate about justice, truth and people. The untainted mission behind the art of journalism requires these elements in order to function properly and efficiently. Within the heartbeat of journalists lies the responsibility to deliver truth, shine light on injustice committed in government, administrations or communities, and also to tell the stories of real people; stories that would potentially never be heard. Journalists seek to give voice to the otherwise voiceless.

     However, sometimes the truth is not flattering, or a movement that evokes pride. Sometimes, the truth is ugly and offensive.

     My Patriot Talon co-worker and friend Andy Taylor made a great point concerning truth in his most recent blog post:

"Some say that truth is relative and that it means something different to everyone. But while the truth may be debated, it should not be attacked," Taylor said.

     We recently published an editorial driven by our desire for truth and justice, because we believe the student voice is something worth fighting for. Through various circumstances described in the editorial, we believe our first amendment rights are being tampered with. The issue at hand is much, much larger than the termination of a  specific adviser that many do not favor.

     Taylor relayed in his posting that we did not want to commandeer the front page of the paper with this pressing issue, because many of the other stories published deserved great attention as well, but because of the circumstances we deemed the content worthy.  

      Many negative comments condemning the quality of our content and publication as a whole, leave us confused.

     It appears students who are unhappy with the editorial want to see only stories that promote a positive image for the University, which cancels out a main element of our function as journalists.

      The reaction from the student body leaves us beat-up, but also grateful.

     We are grateful for the corrections for a couple reasons: We are thankful that the student body, and whoever else, is engaging on a topic that matters. We also welcome correction because we can benefit from the feedback, and benefit from simply enduring the reproof although we cannot respond or defend ourselves.

Perhaps the students are forgetting we are students too.
I, we, will remain obligated to honesty.