Media accountable, critic says
By Michele Stengel
Aqr Oregon Qa&fy '<$
journalist* must understand
that tin* First Amendment is
what allows journalism to really
serve the public-. The Washing
ton Post's ombudsman said
Tuesday at the University.
"Let s remind ourselves that
the whole purpose of the Bill of
Rights has to do with the citi
zens of the United States." Joann
Byrd said It wasn't written so
The Hegister Guard or the Ore
gonian or The Washington Post
Sou Id do wh.it the journalists
there want to do. It was written
for the w hole American public
Bvrd. a IftfiS University grad
unto, spoke during the t/lh
annual Ruhl Lecture at the Uni
versity Tuesday She is the
ombudsman for The Washington
Post which means that she ev al
uates the newspaper's news cov
erage and deals with < ustomer
t omplamts
Her 30-plus years ns a journal
ist inspired her to trv to con -
vines the audience that
journalists are abusing the First
Amendment by holding it
responsible tor what they do
w hen thev exploit its license to
dismiss critic ism from the pub
lit.
Journalist* are accountable to
the public thev need to be open
about their rationale and respect
a different view of how thev
carrv out their responsibilities,
instead of stonewalling i run s
Byrd said
"We are the key to the puhlli s
exercising the rights and respon
sibilities of citizenship, she said
If the people who read our paner
can't hold us at i ountoble. then I
guess it's true that newspapers
are the only institution in sm ietv
ai i Quotable to no one
B\ rd said Journalists abuse the
freedom of the press every tune
thev think that it is a command
to apply no judgment, or they use
it as a shield or ait as if outsiders
have no right to question w hat
they do
"As long as we sav that y\e are
doing this on the publi< '* behalf,
as long as w e claim all the at cess
and freedom that come to us
under the First Amendment, tin ;,
we are obligated to say exactly
how we i ante to do w hatever we
did. Byrd said
Rvrd said the puhlli does not
trust journalists to be thought
ful about what they do be< ause
they see journalists is part ol a
political class, the rulers of an ol i
garchv that hat replaced demo<
racy
"There tt a broad belief that
journalists have our own agenda
and we don't know or partli u
larly want to know what's on the
minds of people who aren't jour
nalists or Journalists' sources.
Bvrd said
Byrd said that if there is much
more erosion journalists will lose
their reason for being: the First
.Amendment can t save journal
ists from being abandoned by the
people who no longer trust their
promise to serve them.
When people think we are m
this for ourselves, they see mis
takes as ev idem e of i onspirai \
or sloth or worse the general
decline of an endeavor that now
kisses off its own ideals its ril
said
When people < nmplain about
the media thev usually challenge
the fa< t that journalists esurcise
tbeir right to freedom of the press
Bvrd s ml
We do deserve the first
Amendment if we take seriously
the interests of the people we
serve Bvrd said "If we respar t
our readers as people who
deserve to ask And as people
who deserve the right answers
ET ALS
MM TINK.S
Anan- and Pii ific AmrrMin Sludrnl I mon wu! tun! loda* a! •
{) n» in PM(l Room I'm* utive* will m»-et a! 4 p m For more mfor
nutl ion. < «tll 146-9.1)5
IM: Will meet for a budget hearing tod.tv a! I 10 p in ill Room ^44
(,i!1**m For more information, call J46 JT41)
lapaneM Sludrnl Orx«nnaliun will mon! todav <*i 4 10 pm in
Room 14J St rat it» lor mure informal mu. tall W’ tt>H2
l it%*anii'il Sexual tit-ha* tor I a*k force will Him*l !t«Uy f»OIU M H)
to 2 p m in the IMT hoard Hoorn for more informal ion < all I4f>
1105
MIS( f t LANK H S
V irlnumrM Sludrnl \%%o« mlkm vxill have noon ntli.m* and ele*
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|rwt«h Sludrnl t mon will pre-vent Profe**ur Mu on KnfhFiart
tonight at 7 in Kutun 100 Willamette
Outdoor Program to ill prevent the noon video liofilU* Mur Nar
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tonight at l> 10 at Farrell * k r t ream Parlour and Kevtaurant For more
information, call 146 6177
COMMUNITY UPDATE
Group accepting more clients
The VYomen, Infants, Children Nutrition
Program of Eugene's Family Resourc es Inis
openings for eligible clients
rht' rnsmirt e group is funded through the
U S Department of Agru ulture to help cover
the i osts of food and provide nutrition edit
i .it i<m and referrals to low-income and med
ically and nutritionally at-risk pregnant
women and i hildren
For more information, contai t Will at f>H7
12 VI
Bijou seeks artist
The Bijou Theater is offering a vearlong fris*
movie pass to the person who can design a T
slurt to promote the theater
Fntries should 1*1 presented to Louise at the
Bijou, at 4‘12 F lrith Ave , by Mnv II ( all
fiHfv-2458 for more details
EDITOR
Continued from Page 1
newspaper. Gazlat said
Ber^ said hi* dei uit>d to run tor
the editor position bet ause he
believed he could provide stu
dent employees in the news
department tilth practical expo
nent e and inspiration.
”1 fee! 1 owe the Fnwrald," he
said.
[hiring Berg's year as the hnirr
alii editor-in-chief, he doesn't
plan on making rnanv structural
changes
However, he said he will con
tinue the Knit’raid'a "quality''
amount of campus coverage
Berg said he encourages non
journalism students to write for
the po|>er, whether through urti
ties. letters or commentaries lit*
said he'll tie willingto talk to [>eo
ple next year with a i omplaint. a
suggestion or thov ‘who just like
to talk
A numlxtr of issues will remain
log storms next soar in the
Emerald. Berg said These issues
include 1 Will's Ballot Measure 5.
the property tax limiting measure,
inufticulturalism and safety.
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