The Racquette Speaks:
Another clarification of technique
Issue date: 5/8/09 Section: Opinion
There are quite a few changes visible in the pages of our publication. This column, "The Racquette Speaks," is an example of these changes. It is a new and vital component of our editorial board. It's our, myself and the editors', only chance to state our opinion.
With that said, reviews are not the opinion of the Racquette. Reviews appear on our pages and staff members of our publication may be the writers, but it is important for us to distinguish between the paper's opinion (this column) from the opinions of our writers.
That does not mean that we do not own the reviews, concerns, praises and opinions that we publish! We champion SUNY Potsdam's ability to utilize the Opinion/Editorial section. We enjoy printing reviews of movies, musicals and bands in our Arts&Entertainment section. The Racquette will proudly continue this tradition.
I recommend that our readers take full advantage of this section. If you have a comment about one of our articles -- a review, a news piece, or anything inbetween -- please send us a letter to the editor or submit an opinion about a reviewer's criticism.
I also encourage our readers to keep the point of our publication in the back of their minds. We are not public relations. We are a newspaper. It is not our obligation to shower events on campus with praise for the hard work that is put into every detail of a production. It is not our job to extend our textual applause.
As one of our alumni pointed out on the Racquette website, a performance acts as the production team's chance to convey its opinion to the public. When the curtain closes, it's the audience's -- and the media's -- turn to respond.
I cannot guarantee that every production will receive a positive review because that is just not the nature of humanity. Everyone will not be happy 100 percent of the time.
The Racquette will never apologize for printing something negative. The New York Times will never apologize for printing about real tragedies. We will not commit a disservice to the campus by doing either.
With that said, reviews are not the opinion of the Racquette. Reviews appear on our pages and staff members of our publication may be the writers, but it is important for us to distinguish between the paper's opinion (this column) from the opinions of our writers.
That does not mean that we do not own the reviews, concerns, praises and opinions that we publish! We champion SUNY Potsdam's ability to utilize the Opinion/Editorial section. We enjoy printing reviews of movies, musicals and bands in our Arts&Entertainment section. The Racquette will proudly continue this tradition.
I recommend that our readers take full advantage of this section. If you have a comment about one of our articles -- a review, a news piece, or anything inbetween -- please send us a letter to the editor or submit an opinion about a reviewer's criticism.
I also encourage our readers to keep the point of our publication in the back of their minds. We are not public relations. We are a newspaper. It is not our obligation to shower events on campus with praise for the hard work that is put into every detail of a production. It is not our job to extend our textual applause.
As one of our alumni pointed out on the Racquette website, a performance acts as the production team's chance to convey its opinion to the public. When the curtain closes, it's the audience's -- and the media's -- turn to respond.
I cannot guarantee that every production will receive a positive review because that is just not the nature of humanity. Everyone will not be happy 100 percent of the time.
The Racquette will never apologize for printing something negative. The New York Times will never apologize for printing about real tragedies. We will not commit a disservice to the campus by doing either.
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