By The face of the Daily Forty-Niner is changing, inside and out. The past of our publication serves as a reminder that we not only can, but must, do better.
Each year, the editorial staff of the Forty-Niner renews, and with each team comes new learned and lived experiences and perspectives.
Our mission of “striving to uplift student voices, being an accessible resource and representing and informing the community in an inclusive way” must start with us, the editorial staff of 2020-21.
To continue with the process of betterment, starting this semester, the Forty-Niner is appointing a community engagement manager to close the gap between the publication and those who we serve. We will continue with our internal education and accountability through conversation and guided learning, focusing our efforts on addressing issues of race, racism and the role journalists play as storytellers.
We recognize that the issues the country is facing as a whole are also issues that affect the industry we belong to and our very own newsroom.
The lessons we are learning through internal accountability and conversations are being incorporated to better equip us to cover diverse stories.
We recognize our privilege and authority as a source of news, and, as the editorial staff for 2020-21, we have decided: it’s time for change.
At times, we have failed our community.
We have not always done our due diligence in covering all the communities that make up our diverse campus. We have misrepresented those communities through uncharacteristic and careless language. We have made editorial oversights and misjudgments in publication of certain stories that demanded to be better refined.
Our newsroom is always open to accepting pitches from the community to widen the scope of the stories we tell.
As we continue to hold ourselves accountable, we encourage you to do the same by submitting your thoughts in a letter to the editor to our editor in chief, Madalyn Amato, at eic@lbcurrent.com.
