Written by: Accent Editorial Staff
Editor’s Note: This editorial represents the opinions of the editorial staff, not of Southern Adventist University or its administration.
In an issue of the Southern Accent, published on Wednesday, April 5, the newspaper staff ran an article about Fight Night, a local boxing event organized by two Southern Adventist University students. Shortly after publishing the online version of the story, the Accent deleted the article from its website and social media accounts per the request of administration. Later that night, the university sent an email to campus denouncing the event and admonishing students to attend the Gym-Masters’ Home Show instead. At the time, both events were scheduled for the same night.
As a staff, we apologize for a few misjudgements on our part regarding how we reported and published the story.
The article and the subsequent university statement ignited a firestorm among readers who provided immediate feedback via phone calls and emails to the university as well as comments on the Accent’s Instagram and Facebook social media accounts.
Many parents, in calls to the university, questioned whether their children should continue attending Southern because of the boxing event, which they consider a brutal sport inconsistent with traditional Adventist values. Some parents, alumni, church members and other stakeholders chastised the Accent, and ultimately Southern Adventist University, for what they considered promotion of the event by the newspaper. At the same time, dozens of students, alumni and other readers came to the Accent’s defense on Instagram and Facebook, arguing against what they considered “censorship” by administration and the resistance among many Adventists against boxing and other competitive sports. At the crux of the controversy is a generational divide concerning such issues that has long existed.
As a staff, we apologize for a few misjudgements on our part regarding how we reported and published the story.
First, we acknowledge that the article could have taken less precedence in the hierarchy of the newspaper articles published last week, especially as it overshadowed coverage about the upcoming retirement of Kari Shultz, the director of Student Life and Activities. Shultz has been a beloved figure on this campus for 24 years and deserved better recognition in the paper.
In hindsight, we also regret writing “Southern Adventist University” so prominently in the headline. While we attributed the event to the two student organizers and made it clear in the first two paragraphs of the story that Fight Night was an off-campus event unaffiliated with the university, some readers automatically made the false connection. Similarly, we believe our readers would have been better served if we had included a comment from administration regarding the university’s position on Fight Night.
As student journalists, we are responsible for reporting the truth and ensuring that our readers are well informed about the world in which they live.
Yet, we stand by our decision to cover Fight Night because we exist to serve our readers, even when it means reporting on university, denominational and societal issues that make people uncomfortable. As student journalists, we are responsible for reporting the truth and ensuring that our readers are well informed about the world in which they live.
The newspaper’s role on campus is to be the student voice, which has been its motto since 1926. This means reporting on issues and events that are timely and relevant to students, whether on or off campus. The Accent prioritizes stories based on news value (a standard practice in the field of journalism), which is determined by such factors as timeliness, oddity, relevance, proximity and impact. We felt it was important to publish the story about Fight Night, as it included all of these elements. It is a large event that involved Southern students as participants, organizers and attendees.
As a newspaper, we felt it was important to provide our readers with as much information about the event as possible. So, the article focused on the organizers and their motivations for creating the event, as well as safety measures and other details. In addition, it brought awareness to the larger community (administration and parents included) about an event drawing hundreds of students.
The Accent staff did not create Fight Night; we are just the messengers. Therefore, we believe it is unfair to blame the newspaper for an event that hundreds of students had attended long before the article was published.
A concern raised by some is that the Accent does not give the same attention to other on-campus events, such as BCU Night, Asian Night and the Gym-Masters’ Home Show. The Accent dedicates valuable space in most issues of the newspaper to photo spreads featuring the various cultural nights as well as other on-campus programs. We also publish weekly stories notifying readers of upcoming events. However, oddity and impact are news values we must consider when deciding which stories to cover. In the case of Fight Night, we wrote a story about an unusual event drawing 500 to 750 students.
Moreover, it was never our intention to promote Fight Night — that is not our role as news reporters. The Accent remains objective when writing news stories. We reserve personal viewpoints and commentary for our Opinion, Lifestyle, Sports and Religion sections, as well as occasional editorials that are clearly labeled as letters from or to the editor.
The Accent staff did not create Fight Night; we are just the messengers. Therefore, we believe it is unfair to blame the newspaper for an event that hundreds of students had attended long before the article was published. We also believe the university should not be held responsible for students — most of whom are now young adults — deciding to venture off campus for a non-university-sanctioned activity. Instead, we see the story as an opportunity for intergenerational dialogue about issues that continue to divide us as a denomination.
Finally, we are not responsible for — nor can we control — the way readers react to the news. When reporting the facts, there is always the risk that someone might be offended. While we attempt to minimize harm, as stated in the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics, we believe a well-informed public is crucial to a democracy as well as a healthy, thriving society. In this case, we felt our coverage of Fight Night shed light on an important topic affecting our community.
