Dear Readers of The Cor Chronicle,
I want to be clear about the newspaper’s intentions on covering the 2024 presidential election because, as you may have seen, the Nov. 6 issue did not have any commentaries and the Nov. 13 issue will contain a couple of commentaries about the election.
The main reason is that we send the newspaper to be printed on Tuesday mornings, which would have made any coverage or announcement impossible for the Nov. 6 issue.
It is not that The Cor Chronicle does not want to publish anything about the election, but rather that no one volunteered to write about it at our weekly meeting called Practicum.
Commentary Editor, Larisa Tuttle, was able to track down some people willing to comment on the election, so the few commentaries that will be published in this issue will be for this reason, not because they were taken at Practicum.
Our editors come up with ideas and pitch them every week on Monday nights at Cardinal Farrell Hall Room 205, many of which have been options to comment on various angles about the election. The past couple of times that articles about the election have been pitched, no one “picked them up” – in other words, no one wanted to write them for various reasons.
I recognize the fact that many people are probably not aware of how the newspaper process works at UD. It is very different from how it works on other campuses.
Typically, at universities with robust journalism programs, there is a certain amount of staff writers who are told what to report on, and they usually can work their way up to the editing staff.
At UD, writing for the newspaper is entirely voluntary and writers can usually pick their own topics. Our current staff represents a wide range of majors. In the past, we have had a handful of staff writers, but even then they have always had a choice of what to write about.
It is important to understand that this is a freedom unique to the UD student. Without writers, there is no paper to put together. Therefore, if there is something we are not publishing that YOU want to see in the paper, YOU should be the one to write about it. We will not do it for you.
I can’t express how many times I’ve heard people say to me “The newspaper should write about this.” To this, I respond, “You should write about it.”
The low turnout for election commentaries was a little shocking because we know that UD is a very political campus and cares deeply about our country and community.
We also know that UD is not a politically homogeneous campus and that elections evoke many different responses from people in our community.
It has always been my goal to publish all points of view as long as we believe they do not severely reject the mission of the University of Dallas or the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Therefore, in the wake of these election results, I want to welcome anyone who is interested to write about it – including people who feel they are in the minority at UD.
And if you wish to make your voice heard, you should come to Practicum. Our last Journalism Practicum for the semester will be on December 2, 2024 at 6 PM in Cardinal Farrell Hall Room 205.
For our Catholic and Christian community members, I’d like to remind you that no matter who is in the White House, Jesus Christ is King.
Sincerely,
Thérèse Castillo
Editor-In-Chief
The Cor Chronicle