Dear West Chester,
I’ve been lucky enough to witness The Quad newspaper at a time of incredible growth. Our staff has grown, our content is reaching further audiences and digging into the topics that are local and relevant to the campus as well as the community. But with that growth, I’ve been able to see the areas of improvement that The Quad needs the most.
We live in an era where “fake news” can mean a thousand different things; I couldn’t possibly sit here and define every use of this term I’ve seen people use, ranging from news that is outright false, artfully deceitful, to news people simply don’t like or agree with. That being said, a news organization’s duty is to tell the truth and serve the public with the utmost integrity.
The work I’ve seen our reporters do in terms of hard, journalistic work inspires me in ways I never would have thought possible. It’s shown me that we need to be more careful and thorough in our fact-checking procedures to ensure that hard work tells the important stories that need to be told. We must follow up with sources, make sure quotes are properly stated and ensure that our critique of outside organizations follows the guidelines of journalistic honesty and integrity.
As The Quad moves forward, I am committing myself to improve our fact-checking and ensuring that we fully display the integrity and ethical journalistic values that I believe our paper has always strived to uphold. I’m always excited to find ways for us to keep improving and serve our community better each and every day.
Have a great week, West Chester. Keep growing.
Sincerely,
Samantha Walsh