(Editor's Note: The issue of The Post discussed in this letter is the 2008 Freshman Guide, distributed at Precollege.)
As a member of the student Precollege Staff, specifically those that work with parents, I was frustrated by The Post's choice of cover stories for the Student Guide edition.
With the McDavis raise, and more pointedly the Party People headline in all capitals and bold in a prominent place above the fold, it doesn't make my job talking with parents and assuring them that their sons and daughters have made the correct decision for their academic future in choosing Ohio University.
Fortunately, my colleagues and I have prepared for such concerns and are able to handle the situation appropriately.
As a student of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, however, my concern runs a little deeper than mere frustration.
Ohio University prides itself on having one of the premier journalism schools in the country, citing our professional faculty and our award-winning alumni.
What I saw on the front page of the Student Guide edition did not do justice to that reputation.
I find it hard to believe that the Post's editorial staff truly believed it was practicing objective journalism when targeting specific stories that are known to be controversial and energizing issues.
I have no problem with questioning the establishment and asking the tough questions, in fact I believe it necessary to maintain journalistic integrity.
What I do take issue with is the fact that on the day that the Princeton review released Ohio University as the No. 5 party school in the country, the Post did its best to support that finding.
Rather than choosing to inform incoming students and parents of our students' involvement in forming the new alcohol policy (page six) or the decrease in students receiving disciplinary action for alcohol (all the way on page nine) or even the record gift of $7.5 million from Steven Schoonover to the Scripps College of Communication (of which our school is a part of), the nearly two-month old Party People story seemed intentionally chosen to provide a targeted message.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't objectivity still supposed to be a part of journalism?
Objectivity comes not just from content, but story selection as well, and on this I believe the Post failed, giving parents and incoming students the wrong idea about this campus.
Do our students know how to have a good time? Of course. That is not the primary motivation for most of our student body, which your editorial staff noted in the editor's note section of Thursday's Post.
Please, next time try a little tact and exercise some journalistic responsibility for all of our sakes.
Danny Cox is a junior journalism major.
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