A new Managing Board of The Daily Princetonian takes the reins of this organization on Feb. 1, pledging to uphold our institution’s ideals, earn your respect and fill the next 135 issues of the paper with content we hope you will find relevant to Princeton life.
And every year, the process seems to break down. We lose your interest through one too many lecture stories, regurgitated press releases and dailies that just aren’t that interesting. And we lose your trust because of unbalanced reporting, factual inaccuracies or distorted quotations.
We would like for that to change. But we need your help.
Today we ask you to envision a ‘Prince’ with well-written and well-reported dailies, creative in-depth features and powerful enterprise pieces on interesting and relevant issues; bold, well-argued columns and editorials that reflect and shape campus dialogue; a ‘Prince’ with comprehensive coverage of athletics; crisp and compelling photographs, an innovative and sleek layout and expanded multimedia and blog content online; a ‘Prince’ that is the authority on arts and culture on campus, complete with anticipated reviews for music, film, fashion and student performance; a ‘Prince’ free of stylistic mistakes and factual errors.
We are here to serve this University’s students, faculty, staff and community. From the brick mansions on Prospect Avenue to the sandstone walls of Nassau Hall and West College, ours is a campus community often shrouded in secrecy. This year, we will try to dig deeper and fight harder to stand up for the interests of students and for a community of openness and transparency. No issues should be left unaddressed, no angles unexamined. The priority for the editors of this paper is to ensure that the power of truth on our front page and the power of persuasion on this page are put to good use.
For more than 130 years, the ‘Prince’ has been an illuminating force on campus, spotlighting issues that would have otherwise remained unseen, reporting tales that would have otherwise gone unheard. As we broaden our horizons and set our sights higher, we ask that you use this paper as a tool to engage your fellow Princetonians. We look forward to putting out a paper that not only keeps you apprised of campus events and trends, but also makes you reflect on, debate and rethink the way you look at our University.
No matter which academic department you call home or in which club or college you eat your meals, it is our hope that everyone on this campus feels they have a stake in the ‘Prince.’ So when we aren’t meeting your standards or ours, let us know.
These last few years have been a time of great change at the ‘Prince’. Our predecessors have produced a newspaper that is in color and free of charge and have given us a redesigned website. This year we have a unique opportunity to benefit from those infrastructural improvements and to commit ourselves to this paper’s next long-term project: improving the quality of our content in every aspect of the paper. We have an opportunity to set a new tone — with journalism at its core — and start moving in a new direction.
Good journalism takes time. We have to earn the trust and respect of those with whom we speak and those who read our paper each day. It takes time to write stories that our readers will talk about and remember. It will require continued effort to produce a paper that has an impact and teaches us to think critically about the University.
We are a staff eager to tackle new challenges and ready to take risks; a staff filled with individuals who give so much of themselves to the ‘Prince.’ We will seek to foster a culture of excellence in which every staff member cares about the high standards we set and never lets up in our quest to meet them, when we all take pride in the product coming out of this newsroom every night.
We are incredibly excited by the opportunity to make the ‘Prince’ something all of us can contribute to and take pride in. We will always strive to publish a paper that is a force on campus, that raises the level of debate and leads the discussion, that is indispensable to — as well as respected and trusted by — each of you.
The same thing happens every year, but we’d like this one to be different. If you give us a chance, we promise to give you our all. And we will strive not to let you down.
Read More
Why can’t lecturers win the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching?
Jerry ZhuLet’s acknowledge those who make “boutique teaching” possible, those who work tirelessly to make our rigorous curricula more accessible, and those who dedicate their time to advising and guiding us through all the challenges we face at this University. Lecturers should be eligible for the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Let’s acknowledge those who make “boutique teaching” possible, those who work tirelessly to make our rigorous curricula more accessible, and those who dedicate their time to advising and guiding us through all the challenges we face at this University. Lecturers should be eligible for the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Princeton’s administration of justice is Trumpian
Frances BroganThe disparity between the University’s approach to Giberson and its approach to pro-Palestinian protestors reflects a concerning trend of appeasing an increasingly emboldened right rather than resisting the threat it poses to academic freedom and the wellbeing of Princeton students.
Secular Opening Exercises? Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water
Frank StrasburgerThe secular makes no room for the spiritual. What Opening Exercises are meant to convey is the spirit of the institution so that it may be kept alive from generation to generation.
The secular makes no room for the spiritual. What Opening Exercises are meant to convey is the spirit of the institution so that it may be kept alive from generation to generation.
