Credibility is all that a news organization has. It is a common misconception that professional news media sell information; they, in fact, sell audiences to advertisers. If readers question the credibility of a newspaper, they will not read it, and the company will not survive. The editing and fact-checking process is essential to making money.
The Tufts Daily is the only publication on campus that needs to make money (it is uniquely independent from student-activities funds), but the same principle applies campus-wide. Why should the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate fund a publication that isn't read?
This is the second and final part in a series comparing the reporting and editing processes of campus news organizations. Last week's column was about the Tufts Daily; this week, the Tufts Observer, our campus' weekly news magazine, and the Quad, a news blog at the Tufts Roundtable, go under the microscope. I am disappointed that the Primary Source did not respond to my request for an interview.
Similar to the Daily, the Observer publishes several sections, and each has an editor with a large degree of independence, according to the magazine's editor-in-chief, senior Daniel Rosen. Editors choose their own story topics after gathering ideas from staff members, members of the Tufts community and Internet news alerts.
News articles at the Observer go through what Rosen calls an "extensive review process" before being published: two section editors, two copy editors and a managing editor read every article before it goes to print. In addition to matching articles to the Observer's style, editors "check any questionable facts or statements" online or by following up with sources.
I applaud the fact that the Observer includes many perspectives in the editing process and that its editors are willing to re-interview sources to ensure their information is correct. But editors only check facts that appear questionable — it seems they will only check facts they feel are wrong. No editor, no matter how experienced, can corroborate facts independently. I encourage the Observer staff to find a way to highlight and check every fact they publish.
In past op-eds, I have written about some of my concerns about the Quad's editorial process — specifically that its editor, junior Christopher Snyder, says he "edits his own work." I won't linger on this point, and, given Snyder's knack for journalism, I am sure his blog will grow in staff and editorial complexity.
The Quad provides an impressive collection of news items and is often the first to break news — for example, Snyder's reprint of a letter released by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) that said the Tufts post office would remain open appeared before the Daily reported the same story. Snyder links to corroborating sources and "triple checks" assertions.
Snyder gets his news from a variety of sources, including WickedLocal and other Boston-area publications, and from events he attends on campus. The Quad is a kind of Tufts news trawler, and editors at other publications could improve the work they do by following the stories posted on the Quad.
Snyder deftly navigates the Tufts bureaucracy for some stories — calling the university's Facilities Department for a Nov. 10 post about a report of water contamination in Medford (something that had not yet been reported in any other campus publication), and interviewing Business Manager Annie Wong from the Campus Life Financial Office for his post criticizing the Daily's coverage of Spirit of Color's budget debacle with the TCU Senate.
Snyder also uses skills he's learned at Tufts. When he analyzed a Dining Services survey on the question of going trayless, he used "skills from a political science class on survey design."
I also applaud Snyder for citing other publications in his reports. On Nov. 26 (it was Thanksgiving, Chris!), he reprinted with full credit a Daily article from the day before on the freedom of speech policy.
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Duncan Pickard is a senior majoring in history. He is the Public Editor of the Media Advocacy Board and his opinions are strictly his own. He can be reached at tuftspubliceditor@gmail.com or through his blog at www.tuftsroundtable.org/publiceditor.
