2008 Woodie Awards
Letter from the Editor
Issue date: 12/4/07 Section: Opinion
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Dear Mr. Merrell,
Rarely do I reply to letters to the editor. However, in this case, I feel particularly inclined to do so. As you seem to understand from your statements, including a story about Ms. Shelton's conviction was not really a choice but a necessity. At such a small university, there is rarely bigger news than this, and as students of journalism and prospective future professional journalists, the Cauldron staff runs a newspaper that seeks to report the news in a fair and objective manner. If you have any background knowledge of the news, you know that there is (ideally) a complete lack of bias and subjectivity in its coverage.
To respond to your question regarding relevance: Elizabeth Shelton is a student at a small university and she was convicted of manslaughter. That is relevant and newsworthy, and I struggle to understand how there could be any question of that fact. Her case was covered in numerous articles published by the Houston Chronicle. This fact does not make it less a necessity to cover it in the Cauldron. In fact, this fact makes it more a necessity. If the Chronicle covers a story involving a student from the University, it would reflect very poorly upon us as a student paper not to cover that story ourselves.
I can tell you that I personally considered placing the story somewhere in the back of the issue, where it would attract little attention, as you suggested. I considered this because I am a compassionate human being, as capable of empathy and understanding as the next person. However, to have taken the biggest news story in that particular issue and place it somewhere in the back of the paper in order to detract attention from it would have gone against the rules of unbiased journalism and reporting the news. That decision would have been entirely subjective on my part. And I can assure you, I would have received criticism for doing so from sources more educated on the ethics of professional journalism than yourself or the student body as a whole had I made that decision.
Rarely do I reply to letters to the editor. However, in this case, I feel particularly inclined to do so. As you seem to understand from your statements, including a story about Ms. Shelton's conviction was not really a choice but a necessity. At such a small university, there is rarely bigger news than this, and as students of journalism and prospective future professional journalists, the Cauldron staff runs a newspaper that seeks to report the news in a fair and objective manner. If you have any background knowledge of the news, you know that there is (ideally) a complete lack of bias and subjectivity in its coverage.
To respond to your question regarding relevance: Elizabeth Shelton is a student at a small university and she was convicted of manslaughter. That is relevant and newsworthy, and I struggle to understand how there could be any question of that fact. Her case was covered in numerous articles published by the Houston Chronicle. This fact does not make it less a necessity to cover it in the Cauldron. In fact, this fact makes it more a necessity. If the Chronicle covers a story involving a student from the University, it would reflect very poorly upon us as a student paper not to cover that story ourselves.
I can tell you that I personally considered placing the story somewhere in the back of the issue, where it would attract little attention, as you suggested. I considered this because I am a compassionate human being, as capable of empathy and understanding as the next person. However, to have taken the biggest news story in that particular issue and place it somewhere in the back of the paper in order to detract attention from it would have gone against the rules of unbiased journalism and reporting the news. That decision would have been entirely subjective on my part. And I can assure you, I would have received criticism for doing so from sources more educated on the ethics of professional journalism than yourself or the student body as a whole had I made that decision.