The silent majority speaks

The past two issues of the Weather Vane have been quite disturbing to me as I am sure is true for many other students on campus. The blatant and erroneous reporting in these issues has sickened me. Is it too much to ask that student reporters, even the editors, be held accountable for responsible and UNBIASED reporting of the news?

The idea behind a student newspaper is to help students prepare to be journalists in the real world while providing an accurate source of news for students and faculty. A newspaper can also be a forum for opinions and ideas, but this forum should be distinctly separate from the rest of the newspaper, for example, in the opinion section. I guarantee you that no news agency or network is looking for reporters that so poorly research their stories as have been represented in the Weather Vane as of late.

Reading the Weather Vane I have also noticed that this "supposed" newspaper is very anti-EMU and the administration here. I want to remind everyone (students, faculty, and staff) that we all chose to be here at EMU. No one is forcing you to stay. If you don’t agree with the principles and beliefs of the college, then you have the freedom to leave. We are all old enough to choose the environments in which we place ourselves.

I find it ironic that in the last issue of the Weather Vane, members of the Weather Vane staff were promoting their own agendas as is evident by the story selection. Sure the SACC is a club on campus, but I find it odd that numerous members in that club are also on the Weather Vane staff. Aren’t there other clubs on campus that have things that are also worth writing about even though they aren’t the ideas of some members of the Weather Vane staff? One of the first rules of journalism is to avoid writing about yourself whenever possible. It adds credibility to your stories, which is something that this newspaper lacks very much.

The article on Dr. Arbaugh’s dismissal left much to be desired as far as being unbiased. I especially enjoyed how the Weather Vane staff managed to merely squeeze in a "correction" about the article. The way it was done makes it seem as if the staff doesn’t want to admit that they made a mistake. Take responsibility for what you have printed and be bold enough to admit when you are wrong.

I challenge the staff of the Weather Vane to attempt at doing some unbiased reporting and accurately report news and events that are occurring on campus without injecting their own personal opinions and biases about things that are going on.

Now I know that the editors have final say on what goes into the Weather Vane, but I must ask this question. Do all students at EMU feel the same way that this clamorous minority feels? Is it fair for a student body to be represented by a small minority of people that just use the activities they are in to push their own personal agendas? I am asking for other people like me to stand up and not be afraid to say that we don’t agree with what is being said. There is only one side speaking right now and it is part of our responsibility to show true representation of the EMU student body.

Just in case you were wondering, before attending EMU I was the editor of the Hesston College student newspaper, The Horizon. During my time there, I let some things go to print that I shouldn’t have, but I stood up and admitted the mistake and learned from it. Not once did I portray my personal opinions in a news article as fact.

Thank you for your time,