People asked me several questions regarding Friday’s issue of The Reflector. Believing that full disclosure is a good thing, I will address all of the concerns I have heard.
If you have further questions, e-mail [email protected] or call me at 325-7905.
Why did The Reflector run three letters to the editor in support of Adam Telle, but only one in support of Juan McCullum? Did The Reflector solicit these letters?
The letters in support of Telle were all endorsements from former Student Association executive officer candidates. I’ve been here four years and never seen endorsements in an SA race before. The news value of those letters trumped the one-to-one ratio rule we usually use regarding letter writers who advocate political candidates.
We received only one letter supporting McCullum before Friday’s edition went to press. That letter was printed in Friday’s edition. No former candidate has sent a letter to the editor endorsing him.
We did not solicit the endorsements. The letter writers sent them of their own accord. The Reflector has not endorsed any candidate for any office.
Readers should also understand that anything appearing on the opinion pages-columns, letters to the editor, cartoons-is just that-opinion of the person who writes it. They do not represent the official opinion of The Reflector or constitute a slant of our news coverage.
Why print the articles the Friday before the runoff election?
The allegations regarding McCullum’s attendence and the absense of add/drop legislation were raised Friday, March 26, after we printed a profile of McCullum. We decided not to print the accusations in Tuesday’s edition because:
1) It would look like The Reflector was trying to sabatoge the election by printing accusations on Election Day and not giving McCullum a chance to read and respond.
2) Because so many presidential candidates ran strong campaigns, it was apparent that the presidential race would have a runoff, so the election wasn’t going to be decided on Tuesday.
We printed it in Friday’s edition so that McCullum and his supporters and/or detractors would have an opportunity to respond in today’s edition. Those letters are printed in today’s edition.
The campaign finance information was not due until the Monday night before the Tuesday elections. Friday’s edition was the earliest edition we could publish it.
Readers should note that all candidate profiles and articles raising allegations have been printed in Friday editions of The Reflector so that candidates would have an opporunity to respond in the form of letters to the editor if they thought they were not portrayed accurately.
Were McCullum’s quotes taken out of context?
Each interview was tape-recorded. In today’s edition, relevant excerpts from both of McCullum’s interviews are on Pages 2 and 3. Also, if any readers are interested, they may contact me and listen to any interview in its entirety.
Why did The Reflector devote a seemingly unusual amount of space questioning McCullum’s campaign finance records?
Each of the six candidates involved in the campuswide elections spent about the same amount of money on the same items with the exception of McCullum. His printing costs were about $150 less than what every other candidate spent. He did not include several items that every other candidates included, like shoe polish for decorating cars.
This does not mean McCullum did anything wrong. We did not and are not accusing McCullum of falsifying finance information. We simply saw things worth questioning and gave the McCullum campaign an opportunity to address those issues. They did. Decide for yourself whether you are satisfied with their answers.
Why did The Reflector not also print articles questioning Telle’s record, attendence, etc.?
We researched every verifiable thing each candidate told us in the interviews. Everything Telle told this newspaper-that he helped found the SA Academic Vision committee and was a key player in the push for a freshman experience program-checks out. SA Attorney General Hunter Jones and Assistant Chief of Staff Brian Freedman confirmed Telle’s claims.
No SA official has raised questions about Telle’s attendance at Cabinet. Freedman estimated that Telle has missed “two or three meetings-maybe.” Jones said that Telle had missed “very few meetings-one or two.”
Is there some sort SA conspiracy designed to bring McCullum down?
I can’t speak for any possible motives the SA sources we quoted may have. But if they were willing to have their names printed in the newspaper, they’re probably also willing to defend their statements to anyone who asks.
One might also note that several people at the SA are raising allegations. If there is a conspiracy happening, it’s an awfully large one.
You are white. Telle is white. McCullum is black. Is this a racial thing?
Regarding the racial issue, you have two options: You can believe that The Reflector is simply doing its job by reporting relevant facts about the candidates or you can believe that this newspaper, which counts students of many different races among its staff, is racist and would make up stories to prevent a person of a particular race from being elected SA president.
I’m comfortable with my record. I’ve written dozens of articles and commenatires during the two and half years I’ve worked at this newspaper. Search our archives at www.reflector-online.com. If you find anything racially insensitive written by me, let me know.
My only interest in all of this is to make sure The Reflector gives readers enough information to make an informed decision. I graduate in a month and won’t be in Starkville beyond that. Regardless of who the next SA president is, I won’t have to deal with him. The students who remain, however, will.
Wilson Boyd is a senior economics major.