As both the editor-in-chief of a news organization and a student majoring in public relations, I am walking the fine line between two worlds. On one end is hard facts and truth-telling and on the other is looking out for best interests. While these two worlds can intersect, in light of some issues The Slate is dealing with, I think it is vitally important to remind the campus community about the differences between journalism and public relations. 

This past week, The Slate was supposed to run a print publication featuring a few different stories with sources coming from high positions within the university. We were unable to do so because stories we were told would happen were denied last minute because the source would not speak to us without the review of the SU communications team. While The Slate does respect the need to validate information, this was an issue because being unwilling to say anything without a higher-up’s blessing implies that we are not a trusted organization. It also went against our set publication deadline, which has not changed in our 66 years of running. 

The sentiment that The Slate cannot be trusted is doubled down upon when I heard that the Housing and Residence Life office told all resident assistants (RAs) during their training to not talk to The Slate. I am assuming this is in response to the comments a previous RA made last fall that were published in The Slate, but I fail to see how one student’s poor word choices should limit an entire staff. It is highly ironic considering a portion of The Slate staff works within the Housing and Residence Life realm of the university. 

Perhaps the idea the Housing and Residence Life office was trying to convey was to keep the private matters of residents private, which is well within the requirements of being an RA. They should not share information about residents with us as that violates their contracts. However, telling the staff to not even speak to a news outlet makes us the bad guys when we can legally only report facts. 

It also makes covering on-campus issues, like the one last week outside of McLean Hall, impossible because those involved cannot go on record. When the university itself has been so unclear about similar incidents in the past, is it not our duty as a news organization to use our resources to report to the campus? 

We are not a public relations organization and will not parrot to our audience what is told to us if we find information that contradicts. It is in our constitution that we serve the campus community by providing “vital news and entertainment,” which is only stifled by the university’s unwillingness to work with us. 

Do not get me wrong, I do not want to report bad things about Shippensburg University. As a student ambassador, I take a lot of pride in my school and love a lot of things about it. I know how to reframe my own gripes with the university in a way that the SU communications department would love, but that is not my role right now. That does not take away my ability, my duty, to call out when what officials want to say does not align with the experiences of the students. I cannot lie, nor should the university. 

If officials do not like what we have reported in the past, I challenge them to find the fault in the writing and not the facts. If our reporting has been so thorough that it makes departments check everything with SU communications, then I will take it as a compliment to my staff. However, do not be surprised when we find new sources. Our journalism will continue despite the attempts to use The Slate as an extension of public relations. 

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