Several students recently have complained to The Reveille staff about our coverage of Operation Iraqi Freedom, or perceived lack thereof.
Some students believe we are ignoring the war because we do not run stories about it daily on page one. However, as editors, we decided before war started that we would focus our coverage on how military action in Iraq is affecting the LSU community rather than compete with national media outlets.
Unfortunately, the start of war coincided with a well-planned campus safety special edition about the Baton Rouge serial killer. We began working on this edition the night LSU student Carrie Yoder’s body was found.
After we planned and worked for days, President Bush issued his famed 48-hour ultimatum to Saddam Hussein. At this point, we decided that regardless of when the war started, we were running the safety special as planned because we felt it was terribly important to our community. As the war started, we did just that. However, we also included war stories on page two of that edition.
Many people interpreted this as us ignoring the war because we were against it or wanted to pretend it wasn’t happening. This is an understandable, but totally untrue, assumption.
This philosophy of community-focused journalism is how we approach all of our coverage, not just covering the war. We strive to have a strong LSU angle for every story we write.
One student suggested that we should write our own stories about the war, rather than use Associated Press stories. Here’s a quick newsflash — we’re full-time students working out of the basement of Hodges Hall and not a bunker in Iraq. We would be remiss to attempt to write about a war that we too are watching on CNN. Simply put, The Reveille does not have inside information on Saddam Hussein.
As a staff, we would rather cover LSU well and leave the war coverage to companies with larger budgets, staffs and capabilities than cover Iraq poorly and ignore LSU.
Also, many people have tired of the nonstop, 24-hours-a-day media coverage of the war. The Reveille hopes to offer its readers news they cannot get everywhere else — such as stories about the serial killer and campus safety, the Legislature, Student Government elections and the new provost, to name a few.
Our staff sees this newspaper as a real newspaper with a real niche in this community. We feel a responsibility both to inform our readers about pertinent information and entertain them with stories about the community.
And we have been covering the war’s affects on the community. In the months since Sept. 11, The Reveille has focused not only on student opinions on war but also on how it has altered lives. For example, we’ve written about students who have gone to war, how it affects travelling abroad, and both pro- and anti-war rallies, among other things.
Further, our opinion pages have never ignored the war. Back in the fall of 2001, The Reveille ran its first column on the war with Iraq, which was just an idea at the time. Also, when we redesigned the look of the newspaper during the summer of 2001, we worked to include more international and national news on the inside cover of the newspaper.
Our coverage always is evolving. Currently, we are discussing integrating a front-page graphic into our everyday coverage. This feature would briefly discuss the day’s war advancements and direct students to our international briefs page for more information.
And student opinions always are welcomed and encouraged. If you have an idea for a story about how the war is affecting you or an aspect of the LSU community, send them via e-mail it to [email protected].
This newspaper is a work in progress that improves and changes based on conversations with our readers.