Editor hopes to educate, accurately inform readers
By Melissa DeLoach
Editor in Chief

One of the things that has always intrigued me about the media is how they appear to be the gatekeepers of the news.

When I was younger I used to think that journalists would sit around a table and discuss what information they would allow the public to read each day. They controlled the order of the story and how much of that story would be presented to the public.

While this belief is not entirely correct, there is some truth to this idea. It’s a fact that journalists do have knowledge of more than just what runs on television and in newspapers, but because there is only so much room in the newspaper and so many minutes on television, not every story can be told. However, deciding what does run needs to be carefully reviewed.

As the editor, I have final approval of what stories, pictures and art are published in the TCU Daily Skiff and what is held for further reporting or research. To set the record straight, I have no problem pulling the plug on a story that’s not deemed suitable for print. But at the same time I have no problem publishing something that will rile emotion and, in turn, result in varying thought or even evoke change on a particular subject.

I asked my editors the other day not to be afraid to look at somebody dead in the eye and simply ask the question “Why?” — and be ready to ask follow-up questions.

“What would Helen Thomas be asking?” is my approach. I ask this because the job of the press is the never-ending search for truth. Ms. Thomas, a veteran journalist and dean of The White House press corps, is the queen of follow-up questions. She will not let anyone slide past her. We won’t either.

By asking questions, we are able to educate and inform our audience of the daily events occurring on this campus, community and the world around us. But we have to do this responsibly.

That is our aim.

If Sept. 11 taught us one thing, it’s not just that the future is difficult to predict, but that journalists play a vital role in war. Without journalists people would easily be opening every letter laced with white powder or ignoring the tick-tick of the unoccupied backpack sitting at the adjacent lunch table.

This newspaper’s role is no different than The Washington Post’s or The New York Times’. While we will be covering issues like the changing face of this campus in regard to finances, construction, parking and other staple items like fundraisers and campus events, we cannot ignore this war. Nor can we ignore what it means to be living through it. The umbrella of issues is fascinating.

We cannot ignore it. We will ask questions.

Editor in Chief Melissa DeLoach is a senior news-editorial major from Waco.
She can be contacted at (m.d.deloach@student.tcu.edu).

The TCU Daily Skiff © 2002