As you might have noticed by peering at the newly printed staff box, Claire Monahan ‘20 is listed as the current Executive Editor. As a dedicated Mirror reader, you will also remember the front page last week announcing Claire Monahan as the 72nd FUSA President. The two Claires are one in the same.
We at The Mirror are committed first and foremost to the truth – accurately reporting on all aspects of campus life at Fairfield. This commitment demands we put certain safeguards in place because of my dual role in order to maintain our journalistic integrity.
Myself, my Editor-in-Chief Lexi Thimble ‘20 and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Alicia Phaneuf ‘19, have collaborated and compiled appropriate precautions to ensure that my role as FUSA President-elect will not interfere with the integrity of The Mirror.
It’s first important to understand the process of how The Mirror receives and edits articles. Every week, contributing writers share articles with their respective section editors via Google Drive. These are sorted into the folders of the section they belong to, and these folders reside in a greater Drive that is shared with the entirety of the staff. This way, each of the section editors, along with the Editorial Board, can access all the articles and read over everything that needs to be reviewed. When articles are finalized, section editors, the Editorial Board, and the Chief Copy Editor sign off their approval with their initials.
With that in mind, and with our utmost priority on maintaining journalistic integrity, I will not be shared on any FUSA related articles. I will not have the ability to read or edit articles before they appear in the paper, nor will I sign off on them. Additionally, the Editor-in-Chief will be the first person to look over the articles turned in, and will make a list of any FUSA-related stories to make me aware of the stories I will avoid.
This ensures that I will have no say in how FUSA is portrayed in the paper. I will also not be able to layout or place of any FUSA-related articles during weekly layout. The Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor will hold the majority of the responsibility to make sure this procedure is followed every week, as well as the News section staff: News Editor Julia Monteleone and her assistants Julia Crews and Daniel Messier. I will be held accountable by all of the members of this incredibly dedicated staff.
With these preventative measures in place, we also have steps we plan on implementing and making common practice among our staff when editing and laying out FUSA related articles. Foremost in these measures will be the inclusion of a disclaimer every time I’m quoted as President-elect at the top of the article, reminding readers of my presence on staff while emphasizing my lack of involvement in reviewing and editing articles related to FUSA.
I will not be sworn in as President until May 4, which is after the last edition of the paper for the semester. This procedure will remain in place for the rest of the semester and my role on staff will be reevaluated once I am officially sworn in.
I joined The Mirror my first year at Fairfield and I have tried to service the student body by producing interesting and informative content. What is most important to me is that my presence on staff does not undermine the hard work of all of the amazing people who strive to make The Mirror the best it can be.
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