Letter from the Editor: Message to the readers

Dear Reader,

So many people have written letters to the editor this year, but there has not been a letter to the readers. This is it. I sit at my desk looking towards my final issue of The Beacon as Editor-in-chief, and must say that I will miss it.

The Beacon is an interesting machine at Wilkes University. The paper has been part of this university’s landscape since 1936. The publication has grown by leaps and bounds since those first years when it was a literary newsletter. It has been an honor and thrill to be a part of this paper’s incredible history.

Flipping through our archives, The Beacon has always been part of this community – covering local, national, and international news. From the time the Smothers Brothers played at Wilkes University, to the time Lady Bird Johnson dedicated the Stark Learning Center, through the 2008 presidential election – The Beacon has been there.

Just the other day I was at a dinner for my high school’s National Honor Society when a man pulled me aside. He said that he was happy to hear The Beacon was going strong, because he was the sports editor nearly 20 years ago, which is just one example of The Beacon’s far reaching network and impact.

Understandably, not all of our readers like The Beacon, because they believe their club or organization may not be getting the coverage it deserves. Some may think the paper has a political bias, and others just don’t like the paper. We are not stupid – we hear the criticism from students, faculty, staff, and administration.

My response to those critics is this: like anything on this campus, The Beacon is a learning tool. Our goal is to help strengthened our staff’s abilities – just like any other organization on campus. We would rather the critics tell us what is wrong with our work so we can better ourselves.

Another point that should be made is that things are not always sunny at Wilkes, and not everyone has a smile on their face. A newspaper's job is not to seek the sunny and happy, but to report everything of value to the community -- yes, even the bad stuff.  People forget that there are problems on campus and the only way that things are improved is if someone sheds light on the issue. And many times things that are perceived as news are merely gossip or cannot be reported accurately.

It is always our goal to provide our readers with the best information that we can. For me and the other students on The Beacon staff, our office is our laboratory. Sometimes the mixtures we make are award winning, and sometimes it just makes a mess. But one of the great things about Wilkes University is the fact that its journalism students are given the most important tool necessary to practice our craft – The First Amendment.

Dr. Tim Gilmour, President of Wilkes University, has continued a great tradition at Wilkes, which is to not interfere with our journalism learning process. He does not censor our paper, or put it through prior review. Because of this I must give him the biggest thank you. He truly understands what the educational process is all about.

My hope is that the Wilkes community continues to be an active voice in the paper, and that the community is not afraid to share its opinion. It is only through conversation that we will grow.

Best,
Andrew Seaman, Editor-in-chief