Now that my awe-inspiring welcome is out of the way, I have something important to mention. One of my journalists informed me last week that students do not want to talk to Perdeby because they argue that Perdeby misquotes them. That is something I take very seriously. One thing I always emphasise in editorial meetings and training is professionalism, objectivity and handling sources with respect and care. That includes using the source’s information with integrity.
I would like to pretend that I came up with these notions myself, but it is actually something that students working at Perdeby have been striving for for the past 75 years.
At the moment we are busy with an anniversary edition to celebrate Perdeby’s 75 years of existence. In order to put this edition together, I have spent an unhealthy amount of time in the archives, paging through 75 years worth of Perdeby editions. That might not seem like a lot, but consider that Perdeby has been a weekly since 1948 and that from 1948 an average of 20 editions have seen the light every year. The number of pages you have to flip through becomes rather substantial.
One thing that really struck me while going through all those past newspapers and that I want to emphasise is Perdeby’s main goal: to be a paper for Tuks students. Every year, editors promise to fulfil this purpose and strive to represent students, to deliver objective news relevant to students and to be a forum for student opinions. It is heartbreaking to hear that students do not want to talk to us about issues concerning them. What is Perdeby here for, if not for every Tuks student on campus?
It is with this in mind that the Perdeby team has decided to find out exactly what students think about us and what they want to see printed on our pages. We are going to conduct a quality survey during the next few weeks in order to do just that. So if one of our writers asks you to fill in a form, please oblige him or her, and have your say about what you like or do not like about the paper. The survey will also be available online as we are trying to engage with as many students as possible.
Do not hold back when filling out these forms. We cannot improve if we do not know what we are doing wrong. And if a journalist of ours has grieved you in any way, let me know. Unprofessionalism is not something we strive for at Perdeby.
I also encourage anyone who loves writing or who wants to dabble in journalism to apply to work for us this semester. Our application form is available online and is available in the paper on page 6.
That is all for now folks, and I hope the second week of varsity is kinder to you than the first. If you need a break from it all, or if second semester slump is setting in early, turn to the Fun and Games page on page 11 for a break. We also covered the Pulse talent show on page 5 and our sport team covered several USSA tournaments on page 15.
Keep calm and count the days to Oppi.
Margeaux
