Though The Minaret in no way feels obliged to respond to every critical comment we receive on our website, the quantity of recent comments expressing a similar spirit of criticism does merit an answer.
As a news organization, The Minaret takes seriously its responsibility to provide members of the University community with campus news. This is true irrespective of whatever particular form a news story takes.
When a major fraternity on campus is charged with hazing by the Office of Student Conduct and facing suspension from campus, this is news.
When students are charged by the Tampa Police Department with attempting to sell drugs to members of our University community, this is news.
When the physical safety of our student body is in question, due to a student holding a firearm on campus, this is definitely news.
These incidents are not merely fashionable gossip or anecdotal hearsay; they are serious incidents that affect many members of our University community. As such, they are unquestionably newsworthy.
By choosing not to cover incidents we discover that affect many members of our University community, we would not only be neglecting our responsibilities as a news organization; we would be guilty of a much more egregious offense: the conscious obstruction of the free dissemination of important information on campus.
We make this clear not to promote our own interests, but to explicate a clear philosophy of news to many of our critics, especially some of the subjects of our news coverage.
If a person or organization engages in behavior, or is alleged to have engaged in behavior, that is considered newsworthy by a responsible standard of journalism, it will be covered in The Minaret. Names and faces may be run on the pages (print and virtual) of The Minaret, just as they would possibly be run by a responsible news organization in any other environment that purports to inform its clientele of important developments. The University of Tampa neither claims to provide nor provides any refuge whatsoever for deviant behavior.
All this having been said, we would also like to make it clear that The Minaret does not operate with vendettas against any person or organization on campus. We are out to provide newsworthy information to the University community.
This means that if a person or organization is alleged to have committed an offense that affects students in such a manner as to be considered newsworthy, it will be covered. It also means that if that person or organization is cleared of all charges, we will dutifully inform our readers of their exoneration.
The Minaret makes no pretenses of being either judge or jury. We do not and have not passed legal or moral judgment on any accused persons or organizations on our pages.
If someone or some organization is charged with an offense considered newsworthy, we report their charge and who charged them. If a witness adds confirmation or negation, we credit such testimony to the witness.
All readers can come to their own conclusions about the culpability, both legal and moral, of any accused person or organization. The accused themselves are encouraged to contact us with their side of the story, which we will be glad to run.
Furthermore, The Minaret does not seek to be selective in our news coverage and always seeks to highlight the positive impact of an individual or organization’s actions on campus. That having been said, we cannot discover every beneficial action by ourselves, and seriously urge individuals or organizations that have made a positive impact on the student body through newsworthy actions to contact us and let us know.
The Minaret hopes that this editorial will help clear up our philosophy of a responsible news organization, and is glad to be able to respond directly to many of our readers who may have not been familiar with our view.
We are very pleased at the role of our online forums in bringing this confusion and criticism to our attention, and we hope that the forums will continue to act as a medium for communication between The Minaret and members of the University community.