On Journalism

Unsigned Editorial.As journalists we are charged with reporting the verifiable truth on our pages without bias or opinion. On this page and in those reviews in our Arts and Entertainment section contain the only opinion this paper should present.But we obviously are not a perfect entity. We all are students, and we are still learning the process of journalism. We will make mistakes, and when they merit it, we will print corrections or retractions. The editors and staff of this paper do their best to make this collection of words and images as useful to you as we can.We were recently criticized over an article that made a good-faith effort to judge student opinion on a recent addition to the Manhattan campus. The person in charge of that addition believed, and told us, that our article amounted (to paraphrase their opinion) to a hatchet job — a poorly reported, biased and unfavorable article.The Chronicle holds no grudge against the building addition or anyone for that matter. Along with the article, we solicited twelve different student’s opinions and nine of those questioned agreed with the article, that the majority of students were against the addition, especially in light of what was given up for it.Any charge against our newspaper’s integrity is taken seriously by the editors. If we believed there were any evidence of bias in an article that was missed by the editing process we would acknowledge it and make steps to prevent the same from occurring in the future. But this article held the opinions of the students — for and against — who were interviewed.Not all issues have 50 percent of people on one side and 50 percent on the other. In situations where there is a clear majority it is necessary to include the dissenting minority, but it is not responsible journalism to portray both sides as completely equal. It is not our place to conclude which side is right, but it is also not our place to make the minority seem as great in number as the majority. And in all fairness, that new addition has taken steps to make itself more amenable to the students it is to serve, which is what we as students and journalists wish to see.The world is not perfect; it is often not fair. But while we are not perfect, we are always striving to be fair.