The Collegian needs you

Home Opinion The Collegian needs you

Though the Collegian employs a staff full of editors, photographers, and writers to publish this newspaper every week, the paper would not exist without all of you.

It is on your accomplishments, events, and controversies that the Collegian reports. Furthermore, it is from all of you that we receive the information we need to write the articles that fill our pages.

Sometimes we make mistakes, but underlying all we print is a dedication to reporting the best and truest information available — information made available by you, our sources.

Occasionally, a person or group will ask the Collegian not to print a story or, in an attempt to accomplish the same outcome, refuse to discuss information with a reporter at all.

Every week, the Collegian works with sources to learn what’s happening on campus. We often discuss information “off the record” when the reporter and source agree beforehand that the ensuing information cannot be used in the story.
We are willing to discuss these requests because our goal for the paper is to serve as an open forum of information that affected the community in which we all participate. But our aims are higher than just presenting accurate information. We are invested members of the Hillsdale community who care most of all for its well-being.

This philosophy manifests itself in particular things. If students commit crimes, our normal policy is to withhold their names in anything we report. We work with the administration on sensitive stories to ensure that we do not put the college, which is technically our publisher, in a precarious legal position.

To accomplish this, the Collegian sometimes chooses not to publish a story, but in most instances, it is still best for the story to run. This recalls the original intent of fostering a free press in America.

Media serve as vehicles for ideas and information, at times conflicting, through which society can form opinions that shape our communities and country. Without an entity committed to spreading true and good information, important ideas are either never discussed or, perhaps worse yet, transformed into rumors with little substance or consistency.

That last point holds special significance in Hillsdale, which is small, tight-knit, and talkative. If the Collegian chooses not to cover a topic, students may talk about it anyway. Many will take to anonymous outlets like YikYak, which was practically designed to spread bad information.

We are invested in providing our readers both in Hillsdale and across the country with the best possible newspaper. We ask that you aid us in that endeavor.