Saying goodbye
What I've learned about journalism during my four years at St. Michael's College

Jeff Morton | executive editor
jmorton@smcvt.edu

One of the most valuable things I’ve learned as an executive editor is to never underestimate how much good can come from pursuing the truth. Many of the stories we have written in The Echo have helped contribute to some beneficial changes that have taken place within the St. Michael’s community.

Some of the stories that The Echo is most proud of publishing this semester include our multimedia issue that was devoted to looking at the Catholic identity of the college. This helped inform our readers about some of the challenges that the college will be dealing with over the next couple of years regarding Catholicism on campus.

In March, we reported on the dismissal of first-year St. Michael's student Adam-Rey Gonzalez following an investigation involving child pornography. Many people on our staff worked hard to uncover this story under deadline pressure because we felt that this was an important story to inform our readers about.

We are also proud of our editorials about Rich Tarrant’s political campaign being held on campus and the St. Michael’s security log violating federal law. They both contributed to changes that the college made.

Finally, the meeting that The Echo and The Defender had with the administration and the student government about the fight that occurred in the 200s was a learning experience for our staff. It caused us to evaluate The Echo’s relationship with the student government and the administration and it helped make us aware of how people oftentimes don’t understand what the role of a journalist is supposed to be.

I’ve also learned that the most important characteristics of a good publication are to pursue the truth, be unbiased in reporting the news, let those people who may not have a voice be heard, maintain a good reputation with the readers and listen to what they have to say and last but definitely not least: always get the facts right.

The Echo tries to hold leaders accountable and keep people honest. We have strived to do that over the past year and I hope that it will continue as I graduate. One of the challenges that the campus media have been increasingly facing over the course of the semester is dealing with pressure from the administration to not publish stories that may tarnish the college’s image.

As Thomas Jefferson said “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”

If we were to give in to pressures from the administration and the student government and we stopped covering news on campus that was viewed as negative, we wouldn't be living up to the expectations of society as a whole to cover the news in an unbiased manner. Covering only positive stories on campus would show a very biased perspective and would be unprofessional. It is for this reason that The Echo needs to remain independent of the college so that these lines are not crossed.

Failure to report the stories that are not positive about St. Michael's would be an example of bad journalism. Just because students write critically about the college does not mean they have a lack of respect for St. Michael's or that they do not appreciate the experiences or opportunities that they are offered by the school. They are simply doing what all responsible journalists should do. A reporter cannot simply overlook news because it makes a particular group or person look bad.

I have enjoyed my four years at St. Michael's. I've had some really great opportunities and I am glad that I chose to come to a college that provides its students the chance to be part of such a close-knit, caring community. At the same time, I have written critically about St. Michael's on a number of occasions because I felt that it was important to make the community at large aware of a particular issue on campus. When school officials used these articles to make changes for the betterment of the college community, I gained even more respect for the institution.

The time has come to say thank you and goodbye. This is the last issue of The Echo for the semester and with it comes my final editorial. I have enjoyed being the executive editor of this publication and I hope you've enjoyed reading some of the things I've written about over the past few years.

There are so many people that I’d like to thank but this editorial would get way too long if I did that so, to all of those people at St. Michael’s who I've shared a few laughs with over my four years, thank you and I’ll miss you.