Last Saturday, The Sun met in its downtown Ithaca headquarters to handpick its 142nd Editorial Board, a talented team of student journalists who will carry this paper to a new dawn.
We’re going to build off our departing editors’ hard work to restore respect on this campus for honest, student-driven reporting. But as editor in chief, I know it won’t be easy. We’re covering a University that has time and again proven itself to be hostile to independent student journalism. Despite its so-called year of free expression, the University still doesn’t seem to understand that the First Amendment means nothing without a free and thriving press.
It takes clear-cut news to see beyond the University’s publicity stunts and obfuscation. We’re going to be the ones to bring that transparency to you all, because no one else will.
We’re not going to take no for an answer, no matter how many times the ever-expanding bureaucracy attempts to stonewall us. The University has tried to crack down on free speech with intimidating shadow policies, including explicitly hounding students, professors and staff members to not talk to The Sun without the approval of a media relations handler.
The administration quakes in its boots when we do our job right. And there has never been a more critical moment in Cornell’s history for bold student journalists to step up. We have a moral imperative to shed light on the corridors of power where decisions are made by people who oftentimes act with little to no consideration for what students and faculty believe.
In the year ahead, we’re going to stop at nothing to improve and diversify our coverage, including through innovative multimedia and data journalism projects and hard-hitting investigations. We at The Sun are not just asking for your trust — we’re going to earn it day in and day out, and we’re going to make every effort to reach you, whether you prefer to read, watch or listen. That’s the least we can do for all of you, our viewers.
Know that you can be part of the journalistic process, too. The Sun protects its sources. If you see or know something that you think the public has a right to know about — whether you’re a student, staff member, Ithaca local, professor or what have you — The Sun is committed to hearing your side of the story to get to the full truth.
We’ve been unwaveringly independent since 1880, and we’re not stopping now. The 142nd Editorial Board will answer to nobody but you.
— G.L.
Signal/Cell: +1.949.584.5968