The Spectator’s goal is to inform. Our paper is an open forum for all parties to discuss issues relevant to our community. It is our mission to report all sides of the story fairly.
However, as student journalists, we are faced with the constant struggle of finding reliable sources. Recently, many members of the Stuyvesant community have declined to speak with us.
Without sources, we lack the information necessary to provide balanced news and are unable to confirm what information we do have. We are still not entirely sure of why this is happening, but we would like to clear up any misunderstandings.
News reporters use quotes only from on-record interviews and advance no opinion in their articles. Thus, any opinions must be represented by the sources themselves. Just as it is the responsibility of the reporter to accurately report a story, it is the sources’ responsibility to provide journalists with their fullest understanding of the situation.
The Spectator reports every story based on the ethical procedures all journalists follow. We hold ourselves to at least the same standards as any professional paper. As journalists, our goal is always in-depth reporting and complete factual accuracy.
But we cannot prevent all misquotations or misrepresentations. Inherent limits in the journalistic process make 100 percent accuracy impossible, even from the best newspapers. As a student paper we are even more limited—The Spectator does not know what occurs behind conference doors. We aren’t there when administrators and teachers discuss issues privately among themselves.
A student-run paper will also have an inherent bias. But in our News, Features and Sports pages, we maintain a neutral approach. As student journalists, we know that we make mistakes, but teachers should not only be educating students within the classroom, but also throughout the school community. Every successive staff of The Spectator is still learning; only with your patience and help will our education as journalists succeed.
Some of the administrators and faculty in our school decide not to provide facts and opinions that could help to cool unnecessary conflicts within the school community. Without solid information or rationale, student resentment merely grows.
The most important loss of all is reduced coverage of student accomplishments because faculty members decline to speak to us. Without your input, the issues in which you are involved will also be underreported and misinformation will be printed. Your side of the story will not make it into the paper.
When we seek information, we have a limited number of people to turn to due to the small size of our community. If these key people decide not to speak to us, we have no other avenue of information. We ask the entire Stuyvesant community to give us, the current editorial board, a chance. We are not the same people by whom some sources have felt misused or misrepresented. Most of us have only been editors since March 2006.
If you feel that we do not represent your point of view, we encourage letters to the editor. If we make an error, please inform us so we can correct it in later issues in our Corrections box. We are open to updating stories or providing new angles.
As the Editorial Board prepares to hand the paper to new annual management, we hope the paper will form stronger bonds within the community. We need your help in ensuring The Spectator provides the most extensive and accurate coverage of Stuyvesant affairs as possible.
Communication and transparency within our small community is vital. But if we cannot hear all sides of the story, we cannot tell them.
