Oracle Online

Writers from print, television and radio news sources from around the Twin Cities will lend their voices to the discussion, which takes place in GLC 1S from 12:50 p.m. to 2:20 p.m.

Amid the audience will be Oracle staff members. As a newsgathering organization, our duties are to the truth and to our audience. When we fail or falter in our attempts to reflect the diverse needs and voices of the Hamline community, we risk failing at our mission.

The truth at Hamline, and in the United States, is that we live in a rapidly changing, growing and integrating population. Our publication should represent that truth and be a voice for it. You, the readers, along with our obligations to and aspirations toward professional and accurate reporting, are important to us.

That said, it is difficult for us to reflect the needs and voices of those groups čracial, ethnic, gender, religious and otherwiseč that are not present on our staff. It is important to us that we represent the community, both in word and in visage. We realize that, at least in part, it is our fault for not recruiting a more diverse staff in our newsroom, so we ask your help in remedying this discrepancy.

The end of the semester is fast approaching, and that means that the Oracle will soon be soliciting applications for new hires in positions throughout the paper. We ask you, the Hamline community, for your help in making our staff more representative of the Hamline population.

Through your contributions as writers, photographers, editors, and yes, even sources, we can accomplish our goals of accurately reporting the news that is important to this campus. Remember, it is never too late to apply for most positions on this staff.

Furthermore, if you, our audience, do not feel that we are accurately reflecting the climate at Hamline or our community accurately, you owe it to yourself to get what you need from your student media. Opportunities to enact such change exist in both our staff and on the Student Media Board.

Our senior staff, those editors who have final say on the content and layout of the Oracle, welcome your unique voices in critique, praise, and contribution. There is a place for anyone who aspires to become a more professional and accurate writer or reporter at the Oracle, and there always will be.

The distinct voices of our multicultural society are important to this publication, and it is our hope that you will help us make those voices heard in a world where they too often go unheard.

We salute the Certificate in International Journalism program for bringing this much-needed discussion to campus, and we hope that you, the Hamline community, will join us in attending.