Editorial: Yes, we are a real newspaper

“Can you change a few words in that quote?”

This is a common question our reporters hear from interviewees after sending accuracy checks, where we verify all paraphrased and attributed information is factual and correct.

Mostly, direct quotes transcribe exactly as recorded. Much of these asks are merely because the interviewee is dissatisfied with the way the quote portrays them, their company or their brand. 

If there was a mistake with transcription, we’ll revise to reflect accuracy. But if the quote is accurate and what was said on the record, it stays as is, in accordance with many journalism codes of ethics.

Despite our reporter’s wrinkle free faces and the youthful twinkle in their eyes, we are a news organization, as real as Lehigh Valley Live or the Morning Call, not a public relations machine for local businesses, clubs and organizations, and especially not for Lehigh’s administration.  

Reporters for The Brown and White are often met with pushback — interviewees asking to receive questions in advance, review article outlines or read entire pieces before it’s published, and our answer is no. 

Sometimes these questions make sense if it’s someone’s first time being interviewed, or their first experience working with a media outlet. Other times, it’s hard not to feel like sources ask these things of us because they think we’ll comply since we’re a college newspaper, not a professional one.

But just because we’re a college news outlet doesn’t mean we’re not a real one. 

We certainly operate like a real outlet by following the standards outlined in our 35-page handbook that addresses bias, credibility, sourcing, accuracy checks, artificial intelligence usage and interview protocols. Our code of practice mirrors that of major outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. 

We don’t deny these requests to change quotes to withhold information or make people look bad. It’s quite the opposite. 

Our reporting seeks to capture honest and genuine events, and first reactions are essential to that authenticity. Allowing interviewees to preview questions or alter their quotes after the fact results in formulaic answers that undermine journalistic practices.

Our newsroom is a space where we try to identify the problems, people and hidden narratives at Lehigh that deserve to be brought to our reader’s attention — ones not typically found in an email from the administration or on the Lehigh News site.

As student reporters training for careers in journalism and media, it only makes sense to adopt professional standards now, since our college newspaper is the best hands-on experience we can ask for as we prepare to enter the job market. 

If students studying science were allowed to ignore the scientific method in their experiments, their data would be untrustworthy. If business students with summer internships were given a pass to overlook workplace protocols, they’d never learn how to properly adapt to their future careers.

Similarly, as students studying writing and the media, it’s pivotal that we train to not compromise journalism standards at this point in our lives, because the lessons we learn from working on our college newspaper will be carried far into our future careers, no matter what path we pursue. 

We owe it to ourselves, but also to people who read our content, to uphold standards that would be followed by any other outlet they choose to read. This is not just the case for The Brown and White staff huddled in Coppee Hall, but the urgency to do so can be felt in college and university newsrooms across the country. 

When trying to uphold these standards, student journalists are writing hard news while also avoiding pushback, or punishment, from their administration, like in the case of University of Texas — Dallas, or even the federal government. 

University and college newsrooms should be a place where students can begin their journalism careers in earnest without being beholden to advertisers or large hedge funds, however, it has become another arena in the war against free speech. 

Despite this, organizations like the Student Press Law Center, a non-profit dedicated to protecting the free speech rights of student journalists, recognize the importance of student journalists and the role they play as a watchdog on their administration and local communities.

The Brown and White has always prided itself on being a voice for our community, both Lehigh and Bethlehem, and we work hard to ensure that our coverage is fair and something that we can be proud of. 

In a decade where there is less trust in the media than ever and news organizations are laying off their staff en masse, the times may seem hopeless for journalism.

But if anyone is going to change the media landscape, it’s going to be young people. 

From establishing splinter newspapers when the university cracks down on their right to free speech, like UT Dallas’ The Retrograde, to Stanford University’s newspaper, The Stanford Daily suing President Trump’s administration for violation of the first amendment, everyday student reporters are showing not just that the kids are alright, but that they’re not willing to go down without a fight. 

This level of professionalism and staunch observation of the first amendment is what we seek to do every Monday and Wednesday when we meet in Coppee Hall, but we can only do that if people take a chance on a college newspaper.