A journalist’s role in society is to provide a forum for investigation, communication, and information. Our goal is to accurately report on issues—whether controversial, prevalent or unexplored—that have the potential to impact an entire community. And with such a vital responsibility comes the inevitable risk of adversity or contention. For this reason, a journalist’s objective is to remain objective. We must examine situations in an unbiased manner, eschewing any personal opinions, ideas or values to influence our process of reporting.
The staff of Arlingtonian strives to always take an unbiased approach to each story written in the magazine. Our Last Word section is reserved for staff opinions and editorials, wherein our arguments will be supported with relevant and valid fact. As a whole, our goal is to explore the truth, reiterate the facts, and summarize the details of a certain topic with information and opinion from sources, like students, teachers and other community members.
In recent issues, Arlingtonian has explored controversial topics such as homosexuality and drug use, striving to report on these topics as objectively as possible. This issue in particular, with Spotlight story about UA demographics, we would like to emphasize that we will never carry our opinions about the town in which we live into our writing. We hope that the Spotlight proves entirely informative in nature, and examines both sides of the Upper Arlington stereotype with viewpoints from both UA citizens and those from other towns and neighborhoods.
If you believe Arlingtonian has not held true to its objectivity, or wish to voice your own opinions about a current affair, please email us at arlingtonians@yahoo.com, leave your comments on arlingtonian.com or stop by the journalism lab in Room 221.
Happy reading,
Victoria Slater