There are times when it is incumbent upon the editor of this paper to address certain policies or procedures of the paper.
It is not the job of the editor to defend the policies, but clarify why they are in place.
To defend is to imply a policy is flawed or malicious in some way, and, as the current and three-time editor, I can assure our readers there is not one malicious or discriminatory Auburn Plainsman policy.
We, present, past and future Plainsman staffs do not set out to trample upon people's privacy or point out a particular group unnecessarily.
One particular policy that has become a hot issue around the office is the list of DUIs we run each week.
We received several phone calls concerning the list, and the callers' misunderstanding of public records laws concerned me.
The Plainsman began running DUIs Aug. 23, 2007.
It was the first issue of the fall semester, and the list was run on the front page alongside an article about a state trooper-led, state-wide crackdown on traffic violations.
David Ingram, editor at the time, presented other papers' policies and what he said was 'way too many senseless DUIs in Auburn' to the staff and together we decided to make it a weekly feature of the paper.
In an editor's note in the Aug. 30, 2007 issue, Ingram wrote '(We) have chosen to print the names of individuals who have received a DUI within a week's time not to exploit the arrests, but to bring this common issue to the surface in hopes that students and citizens will learn from it... (We) do not hand pick which names to publish, but print all names in the Auburn City Police reports.'
Since that first week, the list has been run on page A2 and includes every DUI arrest listed for that week in the Auburn City Police reports.
The reports are simply arrest reports, which are public records and available to anyone. It is most important to point out the list is only of arrests, not convictions.
This is a common feature for weekly, daily and community newspapers.
Although it was not the reason we implemented the policy, it is apparent that we are not the first nor will we be the last newspaper to run DUIs or other public safety-related records.
If a DUI arrest is run in our paper, it is neither mandatory or neglectful for us not to follow up on the case.
To the best of our knowledge and fact checking, the information is accurate at the time of press. False arrests become a law enforcement issue, and not an issue for our paper.
I was a member of the fall 2007 staff and remember the backlash from embarrassed individuals, but I also remember the outpouring of support by students, faculty and staff.
Even today I have been a part of discussions with classmates who voice support for the list because they use it as a guide of where and when not to drive to remain safe.
As our mission statement says, 'As the official student newspaper of Auburn University, The Auburn Plainsman's principle mission is to serve as the primary print news and information source for the University's students, staff and administration.'
We will continue to run the DUIs and crime reports each week because a vital part of our purpose is public safety through information.
The majority of our readership is binge-drinking college students, and since August 2010, there have been 166 DUI arrests, not including breaks between semesters. We are serving thse students best by providing information and a level of accountability for their actions.
We would not be doing our journalistic duty if we buckled under opposition and threats of legal action.
To expand further on Plainsman policy in regards to public records, any factual information from arrests, deaths - accidental or otherwise - will be printed.
Other editors have put it more concisely that I can muster:
'Anyone who knows the history of this newspaper... knows that it is pointless to call and request that a name be left out,' said Paul Osborne, editor and publisher of the Decatur Tribune in Decatur, Ill. 'Either all names go in as the public record, or they all stay out. Some will not get better treatment than others because of who they are, or the money they have. The print rule applies to everybody.'
War Eagle and drive safely.
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