Our Balancing Act

Student newspapers, especially at a place like Middlebury, face many challenges when it comes to our coverage of difficult stories. We exist within a small, transitory and tight-knit community. Middlebury College is a unique space to try and report the news, where the subjects of each story come into contact every day. Campus editors and reporters go about the business of reporting the news not as their primary obligation or as a paid activity, but as an extra-curricular on top of coursework. And after a four-year period, both the reporters and their subjects go on to other lives in other places.

These factors do not change our dual responsibilities to our readers and to the absolute truth. But they do affect our responsibility to balance hard-hitting journalism with an acute sensitivity to our role on campus. Our end goal is to inform and ultimately improve the community. Our responsibility isn’t to the administration, to burnish the brand of the college, or to boost the reputation of the people here. Nor is our obligation to our own bottom line.

A prime example of the challenges in reporting here at Middlebury is the sexual assault case working its way through the Addison County Superior Court. Dong Yub “Don” Song, a Middlebury College senior at the time, was accused last spring of sexual assault in an incident that took place on May 12. Although the victim’s name was redacted to protect her privacy, Song’s name was made public through a graphic seven-page affidavit in the case. Both the Addison Independent and middbeat published his name. As a student-run publication, middbeat drew criticism for their publication of that information. We may receive the same criticism for our news coverage of the issue. But Song is an adult accused of a felony, and his name was in the public record. Publishing that name is consistent with journalistic practices and the public interest. A news organization that avoided doing so would be shirking its responsibilities to the truth and to its readers.

At the same time, we have an obligation to balance that need against the principles of the criminal justice system. Song is innocent until proven guilty, and the personal information of the parties involved – from the alleged victim to the witnesses in the case – deserves a level of protection. The victim’s name was redacted from the affidavit, and publishing her name or even looking into her identity would have amounted to cruel and unusual journalistic practice. In the case of Song, public interest requires the publication of his name but not that we drag his life through the mud before the case has been decided. For this reason, we have decided not to publish either the affidavit or the graphic details contained within. Those details have little value other than to shock and to sadden.

Sexual assault is a tragically common issue on this and many college campuses. Groups like It Happens Here have made an effort to raise awareness of the problem over the last couple of years. Their work helps to provide us with both a framework to discuss these issues and support for the victims. We believe that students have a need to know that sexual assault happens in their community. Many times there is no news coverage of it because the victims elect to deal with it outside of the criminal justice system. This decision is made for a slew of personal reasons worthy of respect, but that makes the cases that do reach the public sphere all the more important. According to national data, 1 in 4 women are sexually assaulted at one point in their life. 1 in 6 men will face the same problem. As the primary news outlet on campus, it is our responsibility to raise awareness of these sobering facts.

Different sections within the paper have different roles within this framework. On the front page every week you can find straightforward reporting on what happens at this school on a weekly basis. On the back page, you can find the same approach taken to sports coverage. Between those pages lives a blend of other types of coverage, including an opinion section that aims to provide a forum for informed and impassioned discussion of the issues addressed within our other sections. Last year, opinions hosted ongoing debates over Divestment, Israel and Palestine, abortion, and the culture of this institution. Our goal is not to shy away from these controversies, but to welcome them. We expect those debates to continue into this academic year, and we invite you to submit your thoughts and join the discussion.