Last year, The Bulletin heavily reported on Emporia State’s implementation of the Workforce Management Framework, which resulted in the firing of 33 faculty members and the reorganization of ESU’s academic structure.
Our reporting did not sit well with administrators for various reasons, and since then our relationship with the ESU administration has been strained. This added to ESU President Ken Hush’s continued refusal to talk with The Bulletin after we published his “I laugh” comment over the closing of the Center for Early Childhood Education. The Bulletin has still not talked directly with President Hush since Aug. 2 of last year.
On Oct. 5, our editor, Mason Hart, and adviser, Ryann Brooks, met with Provost Brent Thomas and Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Kelly Heine to discuss the relationship between The Bulletin and administrators moving forward. The meeting went well and, genuinely, better than I anticipated. The University acknowledged that The Bulletin is not always going to publish stories that administration necessarily agrees with or that paint the University in the best light –
And that is exactly the point.
As journalists, our responsibility is to inform the public and arm them with the facts. The only so-called ‘loyalty’ we have is to the public, and this means many things. It means informing the public on what is happening in their community, debunking rumors when they spread, explaining a complex issue, publishing content containing withheld information that is in their interest to know, shining a light on corruption, providing them with the latest in sports and entertainment, and so much more.
We know that we aren’t always going to publish something that everyone likes or agrees with, whether that be an opinion piece, a column, or a news story. We go into this line of work accepting the risk that we will inevitably receive criticism and backlash for doing so.
Unfortunately, this also means that we get accused of pushing an agenda when that is generally not the case. No matter what people think, the vast majority of journalists are unbiased in their reporting. There’s a difference between writing an opinion and covering news. I may be an opinion editor, but I can write news stories just as unbiased as the rest of my colleagues.
All of that to say, it is not our responsibility to make sure that our reporting appeases all parties. We are here to tell the facts, not to mitigate the truth or soften a blow, not to push an agenda or fabricate a narrative. If that was the case, we wouldn’t really be journalists.
Even when our reporting is necessary, such as with the restructuring, ESU administrators have the right to disagree with our reporting. As a part of our audience, they have just as much right to that as the next person. However, the behavior of certain administrators we have been met with in response to our reporting on certain matters is blatantly unprofessional.
Regardless of all the nuance that factors into my opinion on the matter, my genuine hope is that The Bulletin is able to build back its professional relationship with the ESU administration. It is crucial. After meeting with administrators, I do believe that it is possible.
The first step to making amends is recognizing what went wrong in the first place.
