Recently, the DIGEST was thesubject of criticism that was not so constructive. Apparently, there area few things that need to be cleared up. The DIGEST is an award winningpublication. A lot of effort and hard work is put into producing thistwice-a-week publication.
The primary goal of this newspaperis to enlighten the student body of Southern University, thus the motto,”Sentinel of an enlightened student body.” The very best is done toprovide the students of this campus with accurate information, however, indoing so journalists tend to run into certain difficulties. Many timesinformation must be obtained from student organizations and officials — thisisn’t always an easy task.
Messages are left, phone calls arenot returned, repeated attempts to contact certain individuals must often bemade, and success comes only as a result of the continuous effort to get theinformation needed. It is imperative that everyone understand that onlythe information made available can be reported.
The mistakes made in reporting areat times your mistakes in providing the information. No one is perfect, andalthough that may be a cliché, it still reigns true. Therefore, everyone issubject to human error, however it has become quite clear that many have notreached this realization as it pertains to the DIGEST.
Never are there any intentionalmistakes, never are personal feelings, or opinions in reporting news added,rather, simply the who, what, where, when, and how, is reported as it is theduty of a journalist to do.
It is very unfortunate that some,particularly some members of the SGA, feel that reporters are “out to getthem.” The obvious animosity towards the DIGEST is quiteunnecessary. Certainly, everyone has heard the saying, “it’s business,nothing personal,” and indeed, that is what it is — business. If certainindividuals have chosen to make the situation more than what it is, then thattoo is indeed unfortunate. They choose to procure these negativesituations.
That though, is the choice ofthose individuals. Should people really get upset when they are inpositions that cast them into the eyes of the public, they mess up, and peopletalk about? Is that the fault of the DIGEST? No! That goes with territory ofthat field, just as reporters having a difficult time gathering informationgoes with the field of journalism.
In essence, the point that reallyneeds to be made is that regardless of the criticism, the hatred, and theanimosity so vividly displayed by some, the DIGEST will undoubtedly continue toreport the news as accurately as possible, reporters will continue to gothrough hell trying to obtain information that should be readily available tothe media, and more importantly, the DIGEST will continue to function as theaward-winning publication that it is. However, unfortunately, an effortto eradicate mistakes must be made by everyone, and it starts simply withproviding accurate information. Fortunately, everyone can work together aswhole to eliminate these types of problems. As far as grammatical errorsare concerned, if you feel that you are qualified to proofread please stop byand pick up an application…a copy editor is needed . . .
A very wise person once said,”They hate us because they ain’t us,” does this apply to you? I’m justasking…
