People around the world are suffering and dying needlessly. Ills ranging from preventable diseases to heinous human rights abuses are destroying the lives of millions.
So why are we spilling so much ink squabbling over comparatively petty University issues like the University Board of Election’s botched ballot for next year’s University Unity Project? Doesn’t the social injustice perpetuated within the Lawn resident selection process pale in comparison to the massive social injustices that occur daily both domestically and abroad?
The short answer: Yes! Of course the massive global injustices are more meaningful than issues we are currently dealing with in the University community.
This does not mean, however, that The Cavalier Daily should abandon its focus on University issues. In fact, The Cavalier Daily should expand and strengthen its coverage of University issues, even if it is at the expense of space given to national and global issues.
First, readers must realize that the student-reporters at The Cavalier Daily are simply ill-equipped to cover national and international topics, so expecting them do to so is a bit ludicrous.
All reporters at The Cavalier Daily are first and foremost full-time students. Student-reporters and columnists are not paid to travel around the globe like professionals at outlets such as the New York Times or any one of the cogs in Rupert Murdoch’s media machine. Thus, expecting them to compete with these media giants in their respective specialties is ridiculous.
If students want to break out of the University-bubble (as they all should) they can do so easily. Access to the web sites of nearly all major media outlets is free on the University’s library computers. Furthermore, if students feel the need to have a print version delivered to their door, most magazines and newspapers have special rates for students.
On the other hand, this does highlight the importance of the very successful newspaper readership program that provided the USA Today and the New York Times at various locations around Grounds during its trial run last semester. Having such resources readily available to the student body makes it infinitely easier for students to keep up with the world outside Charlottesville.
In an e-mail, Student Council President-elect John Nelson stated the decision regarding whether to continue the program will not be made until after the transition later in March, and would likely continue without USA Today. In fact, if the program does go forward, Nelson said the program “would probably not start up again until next fall.” The readership program stands out as one of the most valuable Council initiatives in recent memory. In light of budget reductions, Council should not mistake this program as fat in need of trimming.
Additionally, although media outlets like U.Va. Today and The University of Virginia Magazine cover major developments at the University, they are products of the University’s Office of Public Affairs and Alumni Association, respectively. It is obvious that the student body needs a media outlet independent of the administration in order to keep their actions in check.
An independent media source is essential in order to maintain the legitimacy of the information that is doled out regarding the University. The objective of the Public Affairs Office is to paint a picture of the University that is as positive as possible — an objective shared by the Alumni Association. Bad news about the University typically doesn’t translate into donations, which is the primary goal of their magazine.
Therefore, it is absolutely vital that the community have an independent and critical media outlet to report on University events. Unlike student papers at many other colleges and universities, The Cavalier Daily is unique in that it is completely financially independent of the administration and has no faculty censor. This gives the paper significantly more leverage in developing a student dialogue independent of the administration’s interest.
I will be the first to admit, however, that The Cavalier Daily often isn’t critical enough of decisions made within the administration and the student body. The need to maintain good relationships with contacts and production under tight deadlines often interferes with the goal of critical investigative reporting. Nevertheless, The Cavalier Daily often does succeed at providing an objective voice on issues the administration and larger media outlets either cannot or will not touch.
While many media empires focus on national and international events, only one independent paper focuses exclusively on issues at the University: The Cavalier Daily. Students have thousands of resources at their fingertips to find nearly every word President Obama says, but only one resource to find nearly every word University President John T. Casteen, III says. The core competency of our newspaper is the ability to provide a perspective independent of the administration on issues important to the daily lives of our fellow students.
Like any other organization, The Cavalier Daily should leverage this core competency and exploit it to its fullest potential. Moreover, it is a simple fact that articles and editorials covering University issues are more popular with the readership base.
Finally, while University students certainly need to break the out of the University-bubble they also need to break their own social bubbles here at the University. While The Cavalier Daily does not engage in civic journalism per se, it does serve Alexander Tocqueville’s desire for newspapers to lift readers out of their individual affairs into the affairs of the community. The Cavalier Daily can foster greater interaction between groups at the University by increasing awareness about issues that wouldn’t otherwise be on a student’s radar.
Furthermore, in focusing on issues close to home, The Cavalier Daily provides students with events and issues they can actually affect through direct action in the University’s much touted student self-governance.
In fact, its independence and success in overcoming the seemingly insurmountable task of putting out a paper five days a week make The Cavalier Daily the best example of student self-governance at the University, and one fundamental to the legitimacy and health of student self-governance itself.
Matt Dickey’s columns appear Mondays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at m.dickey@cavalierdaily.com.
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