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It’s sometimes easy to forget that the people writing your newspaper are people too.

Create discussion: talk to us

It’s sometimes easy to forget that the people writing your newspaper are people too. Even harder to remember, in a setting like a university, is that the people writing the newspaper are students too. We have full class loads; we have extracurriculars besides The Spectator; we have other jobs; we even have social lives. We say this because we aren’t perfect and while the newspaper is one of our top priorities, it is not the only thing we do.

We don’t say this so you’ll pity us, and stop making comments every time you pick up the paper. That’s never going to happen, it shouldn’t.

We’re glad you question us and make comments. Don’t stop commenting. It lets us know you’re paying attention. Call us out on things you don’t agree with. Challenge what we write, but be prepared for someone to challenge you back.

This is your newspaper too. Yes, there are other people who write for it and edit it, but that doesn’t mean if you don’t like what you read that you can’t say anything. That doesn’t mean that if you have an opinion about anything that the only thing you can do is complain to your roommates or friends. This is your paper. Use it. Write something.

The point of a university is to learn. This doesn’t just mean learn in the classroom. It may mean learning from your classmates, roommates, or the people you thought you didn’t like. It’s all about learning about new ideas, new cultures and new concepts. A university newspaper is a perfect place to provide a forum for that kind of learning and discussion.

A key aspect of a newspaper, the opinions page in particular, is to serve as a marketplace of ideas. What that means, as John Stuart Mill says in “On Liberty,” is that it’s an open marketplace for ideas and debate, and through such discussion the truth will prevail. OK, yes that sounds cheesy, but it’s true.

So, offer us your ideas and your debates. Give us your feedback and questions.

Don’t sit back and take things at face value. This is an idea that doesn’t just apply to the newspaper. It applies to everything in life. Question everything. Demand more. Demand more from your newspaper, demand more from your professors, demand more from the university, demand more from your student government, and demand more from yourselves.

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4 comments

  1. With the new downgrade of the United State’s credit score and the mudslinging in Washington many of us are wondering what could the implications of this untreaded and alarming event mean? We have seen and heard it compared with the events that caused the Great Depression, but does it mean the same for us? The news is giving us no information except for who is now “blasting” who in the media. Maybe, some of our bright minds in the Political Science, Business, and Economics Departments could draft and email or even hold a meeting to help to educate us, the student body and local community who are all voters. Maybe, our student government will want to hold a campus wide meeting on the front lawn about this development in our Countries history. Educatin and action must start now!

  2. Once you start publishing accurate and unbiased articles regarding the student body, you will get its support. Until then (and whoever checks the facts in the articles before printing), don’t be surprised when we call you out on being a waste of funding.

    Considering this is VSU’s official newspaper, it is downright embarrassing.

  3. Here’s an idea. SHUT DOWN. The Speculator is nothing more than a waste of student funds, and space. Better things can be done with the money that is wasted on this paper.

  4. We did demand more from our student government and we got Graham Davis, and the Spectator printed a biased and false article about the entire election. So can we demand more from the Spectator to present us with unbiased and correct information? Thanks. Hopefully you guys will step it up like SGA has…

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