The role of any news outlet, from The New York Times to The South Texan, has a role – a duty – to provide the most transparent, factual coverage and more importantly, a duty to hold those in power accountable. There’s often a fine line between public relations and journalism. One seeks truth (journalism) and the other arguably forms it.
When a story deemed negative is published, it may be unpleasant to those in power. People are often antagonized by truth, but truth is a mirror, ethically and firmly held up by journalists.
The South Texan is not the big bad wolf of TAMUK. Our reporters do not go into stories looking to make a mockery of the university. The job of our reporters is to present the news, whether that’s a simple event or a hard news story. The job is to tell the truth. When one questions the layout of our paper it is blatantly obvious that they have not one iota of understanding when it comes to industry standards. The South Texan has been awarded many times for its editorial content, Best in Newspaper and Best Page Design.
Most recently The South Texan was awarded best all-around newspaper for our division at the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association conference and competition.
You do not win awards like these for flawed layout and lackadaisical attention to detail. The South Texan is the home of award-winning journalists, who will make waves and solidify themselves in the industry just like those before them.
We are students, just like the rest of the student body. Just like every other student on campus, we came to this university to prepare for our careers, and reporting with malintent would disservice ourselves just as much as it would the student body. We at The South Texan are proud Javelinas and have a love for this campus, but it is hard to stay proud when our First Amendment rights are in danger.
To clarify, no infringement of our free expression has been directly made—but its implication has been noticed.
To clarify further, we will continue to report and layout with precision as we do every issue – whether in print or online.
President Dr. Robert Vela stated in a recent press conference that “the students in our backyard have a superpower” and that TAMUK is the place to find it and allow it to grow.
We at The South Texan have found our calling and work endlessly to master our craft, but why is it that we are targeted for serving our peers?
There is no agenda at The South Texan, and not one singular narrative defines our body of work.
In a world corrupted by the left and the right and other outside sources, it’s up to the new generation like us to report both sides.
This means that as the new generation of journalists we can’t back away from the truth no matter what.
To clarify, we don’t report on stories out of pleasure. To clarify we report on them out of our duty, our service to this democracy to ensure that the Republic for which we stand will remain intact for the next 100 years.
To clarify, we are the centennial staff of this paper. The South Texan was founded in 1925 like the campus we celebrate this year.
And as the staff we intended to safeguard it for the next 100 years.