By: Samantha Reich
Marketing Junior
The edition of the Maroon published on Oct. 20, 2017 featured a front-page headline reading “Changes to semester, class length proposed for next year,” as well as an editorial titled “When are we going to talk about schedule changes?” While the front page article clearly says that the changes are PROPOSED, many students I have spoken to read both articles and concluded that the changes are decided and are definitely going to happen, simply because of these two articles.
First, this is absolutely not the case, and as someone who has spoken with the provost directly about the issue, there is still a lot to be discussed and there is absolutely no guarantee that it is going to happen or that it’s not going to happen.
Second, I find it disconcerting that The Maroon would publish articles as misleading as these are, and whether or not they intended to be misleading does not matter. What matters is the way articles are written, and the fact is that people are drawing the wrong conclusions based on material published in the paper, which I blame that entirely on the way the articles were phrased and The Maroon staff.
As journalists, it is not The Maroon staff’s job to get people to read the newspaper or to write articles for the purpose of firing people up. It is their job, and responsibility, to print accurate information that is also as unbiased as possible. In an age where the term “fake news” has become an idea that some people actually believe in, I would think that journalists from an institution whose mission statement calls on us to “pursue truth, wisdom, and virtue” would be more socially responsible than this.
Editor’s Note: The Maroon never claimed schedule changes are happening, as the editorial reads, “Of course, a decision has yet to be made.” The only time The Maroon does not use this language is citing SGA Vice President Blane Mader, who said in a recorded, on-the-record interview that schedule changes are “definitely happening.”
