Let’s talk it out
Two words for those who’ve criticized The Reflector’s recent editorial decisions: Thank you.
Those certainly weren’t the first words coming to mind as angry letters spilled into inboxes and rumours of misconduct spread down into the ’Flec’s basement hovel. However, things are better now.
Given time, discussion and reflection, a new narrative has emerged: This has been a positive learning experience for everyone involved.
Of course some things have undoubtedly been lost in translation. For example, the Feb. 2 front cover was meant to challenge traditional sexual imagery. By revealing on page two that it was a man pictured on the cover it was hoped readers would question their own snap judgements of why they’d assume the model was a woman.
Perhaps that wasn’t made obvious enough, so we apologize if those intentions were unclear.
However, we still fully stand by the editorial decisions made. It’s our job to get people engaged and talking about issues. We’ve done that.
The high level of engagement felt from our readership has been encouraging. More than 18 letters have recently been written to The Reflector, which eclipses the year’s total letter submission to date. That’s a powerful response.
We’ve also heard stories of classroom discussions where students are questioning the images being reflected back them. That’s even more powerful.
It’s pointless to defend each individual charge levied against this publication. The complaints range from valid to disturbingly inaccurate criticism. We’ve read every word and considered the merits of each letter. Much of our time was spent debating over what to do next.
Then it clicked. This is what we asked for.
Recall the Jan. 19 issue of The Reflector. Flip to page eight’s staff editorial titled “Doesn’t smell like school spirit.” The last lines provide a fantastic precursor to where we are today. Our calls for the student body to “Tell someone. Do something” have finally been answered. Hallelujah!
But, we’d also like to get a say in the conversation. Come talk to us — whether you’re pissed off or floored by what you’re reading in The Reflector. We’re interested in hearing new ideas and learning ways of getting better.
Isn’t that what university’s all about?
You want criticism, I have criticism for ya. The default deny of comments on the reflectors page is inadvertent editorial censorship. It slows down and discourages conversation. A user registration system, or a better captcha can solve the spam issues. You review every post anyway right (eventually), so let the users debate the issues in your comments. Nobody is going to come back three days later to see if their comments has been accepted and engage in the debate. Top of mind topics get top of mind responses, which are often ugly but honest. The reflector’s current practice inhibits that. Shame.