A news source should educate the public on the facts. It is the job of a news source to make the public aware of what is going on by presenting facts, not opinions. Most professional news sources follow this simple rule of reporting. However, the Ball State Daily News does not.
The Daily News has decided to endorse an executive slate for SGA. While this is something they have done for a few years, it does not make it correct. When I read news, I want to learn the facts so that I may formulate my own opinion. It is not their job to tell me what to think, only what the facts are.
When you take a side, or show an opinion, it brings all of your reporting into question. Some of the same people who wrote articles throughout the election season sat down and decided to endorse a particular slate. As a student body, it is now our job to question all they have written about the elections this year.
How can we know that they have done honest reporting from the start? Have they always favored a slate? Honestly, I cannot tell you that. What I can tell you is that their ethics are now in question. Their credibility is now in question. Can we really trust the Daily News for honest, true and unbiased reporting on the SGA elections? No.
I will tell you who you can trust. WCRD. And this is coming from me and that is an opinion I have developed on my own, not one coming from WCRD. Their entire staff has done a phenomenal job covering the elections. They have remained unbiased. They have given more coverage to the elections than any other student media group. They have been the most professional in their coverage, only reporting the facts, not their own opinions (like the DN continues to do). I would encourage all students to turn to WCRD for your election coverage. That is where you will get the fair, unbiased reporting that is lacking in this newspaper.
I would also like to address the poor journalism ethics shown in Thursday’s editorial. The writers at the Daily News never informed me, or the Elections Board as a whole, they were writing an editorial about us. They never asked for comment on it or for specific comments to be used in it. It was extremely one sided. It lacked the entire story. To call someone a “bully” and not tell them or ask for comment is extremely unprofessional. They misquoted me. I said they could fill out a FOIA request for any info they want. They chose to say I would not release anything.
This, my fellow students, is the kind of reporting the Ball State Daily News has chosen to be. I call on you to question the Daily News and the reporting in it. Is it appropriate? Is it ethical? I’ll let you be the judge.
- Kevin Thurman, Elections Board Chair, Ball State University Student Government Association
