Spring Break
From the desk of the Public Editor
William Mulgrew
Issue date: 10/26/07 Section: Ed-Op
- Page 1 of 1
Dear students, faculty, staff and community members,
The Triangle has seen fit to create an office to advocate for our readers in order to ensure the excellence of quality and accuracy in our newspaper. As public editor, I am your representative who will work with diligence and confidence to ensure a fair hearing of your complaint.
If you experience or witness ethical misconduct, unprofessional treatment, or factual inaccuracy of any sort please don't hesitate to contact me. Any information related to your identity will remain confidential. Only the message of the complaint may become public if it is serious enough.
So far the only complaints I've received as public editor surround the decision to switch the newspaper size from tabloid to broadsheet. A couple students informed me that secretly reading comics and solving crossword puzzles in class is now much more difficult. I'm sure faculty members are thrilled to hear this.
On a more serious note: a month ago, Clark Hoyt, the public editor for The New York Times, revealed that his newspaper violated its own internal policies when it allowed the liberal activist group, MoveOn.org, to publish an advertisement that attacked the reputation of Gen. David H. Petraeus. The ad's headline read, "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" The Times published the ad when the general testified to Congress on the dangers of immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq and also whether any progress had been accomplished in the war.
Although the ad had politically backfired on MoveOn.org, the Times' own manual reads, "We do not accept opinion advertisements that are attacks of a personal nature." While Gen. Petraeus is a public official, Hoyt writes that the remark was "a particularly low blow when aimed at a soldier," that should have been removed.
This commendable action of a public editor for a prominent newspaper is something we hope to replicate in The Triangle. Having served on the Editorial Board for two years, I'm qualified to serve in this capacity.
Your feedback will ensure our paper's sustained quality, that's our promise.
William Mulgrew is a senior majoring in history and political science and is the public editor. He can be reached at william@thetriangle.org.
The Triangle has seen fit to create an office to advocate for our readers in order to ensure the excellence of quality and accuracy in our newspaper. As public editor, I am your representative who will work with diligence and confidence to ensure a fair hearing of your complaint.
If you experience or witness ethical misconduct, unprofessional treatment, or factual inaccuracy of any sort please don't hesitate to contact me. Any information related to your identity will remain confidential. Only the message of the complaint may become public if it is serious enough.
So far the only complaints I've received as public editor surround the decision to switch the newspaper size from tabloid to broadsheet. A couple students informed me that secretly reading comics and solving crossword puzzles in class is now much more difficult. I'm sure faculty members are thrilled to hear this.
On a more serious note: a month ago, Clark Hoyt, the public editor for The New York Times, revealed that his newspaper violated its own internal policies when it allowed the liberal activist group, MoveOn.org, to publish an advertisement that attacked the reputation of Gen. David H. Petraeus. The ad's headline read, "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" The Times published the ad when the general testified to Congress on the dangers of immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq and also whether any progress had been accomplished in the war.
Although the ad had politically backfired on MoveOn.org, the Times' own manual reads, "We do not accept opinion advertisements that are attacks of a personal nature." While Gen. Petraeus is a public official, Hoyt writes that the remark was "a particularly low blow when aimed at a soldier," that should have been removed.
This commendable action of a public editor for a prominent newspaper is something we hope to replicate in The Triangle. Having served on the Editorial Board for two years, I'm qualified to serve in this capacity.
Your feedback will ensure our paper's sustained quality, that's our promise.
William Mulgrew is a senior majoring in history and political science and is the public editor. He can be reached at william@thetriangle.org.
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