As I read through recent issues of The Cavalier Daily, I was confused at times about what sort of piece I was reading. I have noted that in comments, many people are confused about articles versus columns, the latter containing opinion and the former reporting in which the author strives for objectivity. On several occasions, I recall commenters alleging bias on the part of a columnist and thinking that it was at least partly because the commenter is reading the piece online and didn’t note the distinction between sections of the paper or type of piece. In looking to see whether my notion held up, I came away thinking there are places where The Cavalier Daily can and should do more to highlight the location of an article or column in its appropriate section and to identify the author and author’s intent.
Effective labeling is especially important in the digital space, where the lines between sections and types of pieces within sections are more easily blurred. In the current website design, sections are labeled in the navigation bar and in text at the top of each article. This seems reasonable for both the News and Opinion sections where the type of piece is then clear. In other sections, though, the readers are left to sort out for themselves whether they are reading an objective news report or an Opinion column. This can be especially tough to figure out if the reader is not using the website itself to navigate the paper but coming directly to a specific page from an outside link source like Twitter or Facebook.
Matthew Comey’s ability to write for multiple parts of the paper highlights this issue. His work appears in both the Sports and News sections. See, for example, his column in the Sports section, “What happened to the Virginia men’s swimming team?” Only at the bottom of the piece are we told that Comey is a weekly Sports columnist, with the understanding that the foregoing piece was opinion and not news. A previous piece, “Just the ticket,” reads like a column but isn’t labeled as such, which implies it may be intended to be more of a news report. Comey also wrote recent articles that were under the News heading. While there is more leeway, generally, in sports writing (especially in reporting results which can be exceedingly dry if it’s literally just the facts) for less objectivity than in news, knowing the underlying intent of a piece is still critical for understanding it. Adding the role of the authors with their byline would help, just as The Cavalier Daily currently does in print. In the case of Comey, “Matthew Comey, News Editor,” or “Matthew Comey, Sports Columnist,” clarifies his role and the type of piece before the reader starts the piece. See, for example, page two of the January 15 and page nine of the February 26 print editions.
One other brief note: in the past, I’ve called for more links online where they can be used to point readers to more context, previous articles on the same topic or data. I’ve been gratified to note that in recent weeks there have been several instances of pieces that make good use of such links. The lead editorials on March 2 and March 4 and John Connolly’s Opinion column from March 5, for example, all offer links that both support their arguments and present additional context. I hope it’s the start of a trend at The Cavalier Daily. I’d especially like to see more links in News pieces where they can offer similar utility to readers.
Christopher Broom is the Public Editor for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at publiceditor@cavalierdaily.com or on Twitter at @CDpubliceditor.
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