We write this letter as journalism students who feel that The Post has slacked in what should be its primary job: reporting the news. Last Friday, Assistant Professor Bill Reader of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism went before a Faculty Senate committee to appeal for his job. Professor Reader has been in the middle of a vicious tenure battle for the better part of a year now. What has resulted is a vicious attack on his character from what we feel are unsubstantiated claims. Furthermore, one of the most unfortunate aspects of this situation is that, until Monday, The Post failed to report what was happening. Instead, they chose to utilize a wait-and-see approach.
Though we recognize that The Post has now run a story on this situation, it still remains that there should have been coverage on the story long ago. One of the primary responsibilities of a good journalist is to be a watchdog of the government, in this case the university. It is no secret that we have stood up in defense of Professor Reader; at the beginning of last week we organized over 250 students that agreed to attempt to attend the hearing on Friday to show our support. Though the news of Professor Reader's tenure battle had spread through Scripps and beyond even before the hearing took place (it was covered in The Athens News and on the online news source Inside Higher Ed), The Post still chose to remain silent.
If any professor were facing the charges that Professor Reader is facing, we would expect responsible journalists to report what was happening. The fact that until now this student newspaper chose not to report these events (occurring in Scripps, no less) is embarrassing. As journalists, it is our responsibility to shine a light on any possible issues that the common populace needs to know about. It is a shame that the students who sit on the editing board chose to wait until after the hearing was over to report the news.
The fight is not over, the panel has yet to make a recommendation and the ball is still in President McDavis' court to make a decision. We, the students, are choosing not to be silent and will continue to stand by Professor Reader's side. We are encouraging any and all students who wish to learn more to contact us in order to protect academic freedom and to protect one's freedom of speech.
Alex Levin and Lindsay Ferguson are both seniors studying journalism.
4 Opinion
Letter to the Editor
