Dear Editor-in-Chief Maren Halpin and The Suffolk Journal editorial staff,
As someone who is heavily involved in an official capacity in both The Suffolk Journal and in the Student Government Association, I am disappointed in the decision published Feb. 22 to endorse candidates in the upcoming SGA president and vice president elections. This dissent is on several fronts, and out of concern for the integrity and reputation of both SGA and The Journal.
To set the context, no other nearby university’s campus newspaper endorses candidates in their respective SGA elections. While these newspapers endorse candidates in other elections, such as elections for United States president, U.S. Congress members or local mayors, there is rarely much in-depth coverage of SGA candidates prior to an election, much less official endorsements.
While I understand the desire to help students make an informed decision regarding SGA elections, I simply do not see a justification, in the article or otherwise, why Suffolk University should be different, and why the candidate profiles are not enough to achieve that.
Endorsements are important, and I recognize the right of a student organization to do so, however The Journal is in a significantly unique position when it comes to SGA endorsements.
The Journal is by far one of the most influential voices at Suffolk due to its position as the official campus newspaper.
With its position relative to SGA, there is some expectation of mutual neutrality: SGA does not handle The Suffolk Journal’s primary funding to ensure that it is not de facto punished for going against it. Similarly, The Suffolk Journal should not be allowed to do the inverse by exercising its authority and social influence to change the priorities of SGA.
At best, allowing such endorsements to proceed would only risk hurting The Journal’s ability to objectively report on SGA, one of its biggest and most unique responsibilities as a campus newspaper. What stops The Journal from twisting the narrative around SGA based on the election results for those who they endorsed?
Past Journal staff have agreed with this sentiment. In 2019, when announcing their decision not to endorse a candidate in the SGA elections after endorsing Daniel Gazzani for president in 2017, they cited the same reason.
“We feel that this year, and likely going forward, we are choosing not to endorse any candidates as we believe it may hurt our objectivity. We also believe that the Suffolk community should use our news coverage, word-of-mouth and listening directly to the candidates to decide who they choose to support — not The Journal’s endorsement,” the 2019 Suffolk Journal staff said.
Also, membership in SGA and The Suffolk Journal are far from mutually exclusive. Students who are involved in SGA can also be a part of The Journal’s editorial staff which is set to decide on these nominations. So, then what would happen if myself or other people from The Journal were to run for election to the SGA e-board?
It would place The Journal in a massive double-bind that risks major reputational damage. The first option is that the endorsement goes to the person affiliated with The Journal, which makes it seem as if there is an organizational conflict of interest when The Journal reports on SGA. The alternative is that they do not endorse the candidate from The Journal, and risk losing the trust of their newsroom. As someone who loves my work at The Suffolk Journal and loves seeing The Journal thrive, neither of those options are something I want to see happen.
Finally, nobody outside of the editorial staff was consulted on this decision. Not staff writers, not Student Judiciary Review Board, not even the current SGA e-board or candidates in the election itself. This is deeply undemocratic decision-making and is what has led to many of the concerns above. While I am not presuming malicious intentions by Halpin or any of the editors, I will not stand for it.
There are legitimate reasons to think that this may impact the standing of members of both organizations. For example, what does it mean if a Student Judicial Review Board member, who is not allowed to endorse anyone in an SGA election as they are part of the deciding body for election-related violations, is a member of The Suffolk Journal when they make an endorsement?
Questions like this show what the possible flaws of these endorsements are, and why it was a mistake not to, at the very least, consult SGA before making this decision to work through these problems.
Considering the limited time prior to the election, I call on the Suffolk Journal’s editors to:
- Immediately make a statement on why none of these factors were considered, as well as make it clear what the planned response was in any of the aforementioned situations. Also, answering if endorsements were planned to be on a yearly basis as described in the article, or as a pilot for this election, would be appreciated context.
- Allow for proper consideration of any of these issues, retract any pending endorsement for this election cycle until proper consultation of stakeholders, including SGA and the entire newsroom at the Journal, can be held.
- Make it clear in future election cycles prior to SGA distributing nomination papers if candidates will be endorsed in that election.
With the influence that The Journal has, an endorsement is major for whoever gets it. There is no reason it should be tossed in during the middle of campaigning when the timeline for SGA elections is made clear weeks before the election.
Finally, if the editors do want to make their voices heard, there’s still time to make a personal endorsement. This would allow the editors who wish for their voices to be heard to still be able to contribute, while making sure that institutional damage is not caused in those very same attempts.
This is not the only time that mistakes will happen, but what helps us move forward is recognizing those mistakes, finding their source and taking appropriate action to prevent their recurrence. That is what this letter and the above demands are meant to achieve.
Sincerely,
Simone Alcindor
SGA Class of 2029 Senator; Staff Writer at The Suffolk Journal
Co-signed by:
Caleigh Askintowicz
Staff Writer at The Suffolk Journal
