As the editor in chief of The Reflector, I have to answer a lot of questions and explain why we do the things we do. A question I respond to over and over again is, “Why would you want to print something that makes the university look bad?” My response is always the same. My job is not to make this university look good. The Reflector is not the public relations firm for the university. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’re in the wrong place. Visit University Relations or Athletic Media Relations if you want to hear something good about the university.
That said, let me point out that we report the good as well as the bad, but people don’t get upset when you talk about the good stuff. When you bring up the bad, all kinds of responses flood in.
Sports editor Derek Cody wrote a column about Mississippi State’s football team in Tuesday’s edition of The Reflector. Before we ran the column, we talked about it, and I gave him the go-ahead.
The fact is that MSU is having a bad football season right now. No one will dispute that. Cody’s column reflected his opinions on the situation.
Recent columns in The Clarion-Ledger and the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal have also criticized MSU’s football team. Cody’s opinions were not out of line, nor were they different from the norm.
We are a paper that serves the students and reports for the students. Cody’s column didn’t say anything that we haven’t heard walking across the Drill Field or sitting in Perry Cafeteria. Student and alumni alike are talking about, and in some cases criticizing, the football team.
The Reflector is not here to serve the football team, or the university administration for that matter.
We are a student newspaper with a student staff. We have a faculty adviser who does just that. She advises-she does not demand or dictate. The publications committee of the university oversees us, but all editorial decisions are left up to us. The university does not dictate what can and cannot be printed in The Reflector, nor do they hire and fire our staff.
We wouldn’t be a true newspaper if we only wrote about the positive. Sometimes the most newsworthy things don’t make the university look good.
For example, a group of MSU students were caught at Ole Miss attempting to steal several items, including an Ole Miss football helmet a few weeks ago.
When I found out about the incident, I immediately recognized the newsworthiness of the situation, but others did not. Some people tried to talk me out of writing the article. They told me over and over again that it would “look bad for the university.”
I told them the same thing I’m telling you now: The Reflector will not ignore a story nor refuse to criticize in order to protect the image of the university.
The Reflector exists to tell the MSU community the truth as our reporters, columnists and editors see it. Sometimes it isn’t pleasant, but if we shirk our responsibilities, we aren’t doing our job.