Editorial: Reflecting on the past few weeks

Graphic+by+Yolanda+Chow

Graphic by Yolanda Chow

Chimes’ mission statement includes the call to foster dialogue in the Calvin community. We didn’t know just how much dialogue we would help foster when we published a story on March 30 about the college’s plans for SAO and the news regarding the departure of its beloved director, Ken Heffner.

The following day we noticed our work was incomplete. We were proud to ask questions and report on events that matter to this community in a timely fashion. However, in our coverage we made mistakes. We want to be frank about these mistakes because transparency matters, and that’s how our readers can continue to depend on us.

By the time we published our story, news had already begun circulating around campus and on social media, and we felt compelled to move quickly. As a result, the story was rushed, contained some errors (which are detailed on our website), and didn’t present the full picture. We added an editorial note at the beginning of the original article to explain our changes. You can read the original article with our editors’ note here. As editors, we take the responsibility for these decisions.

There is still much unknown about the extent to which SAO will continue next year; the conversation continues. Our job is to ask difficult questions and to report the truth. We will continue to strive for journalistic excellence.

This time of ambiguity around such a beloved office has been a ripe time for reporting. There is much that students want to know and one of the ways they get answers is through Chimes. We have felt the burden of this role quite heavily these past couple weeks, and we’re trying our best to get you the news you need, and want, to hear.

As student journalists we learn on the job. These past couple weeks we have learned that our articles can have far reaching implications, which has also taught us that journalism captures nuance and highlights contradiction. We have learned the importance of quality over timeliness. We have felt the Calvin community’s support for our paper and the work we do. So we thank you, our loyal readers, for all the support we have received over the past two weeks, through our accomplishments and our downfalls.