By the Drew Acorn Editorial Board,
The Editorial Board of The Drew Acorn is made up of students of various backgrounds both academically and culturally. The Board is composed of students who are all equally passionate about reporting for and writing about Drew University. Though none of us are journalism majors or anticipating journalism students, we devote time into producing a paper for our peers and faculty.
Two years ago, The Drew Acorn website was hacked by an anonymous source from overseas. Failing to regain ownership of the website, the Editorial Board decided it was in our best interest to shut down the website and only pursue the deliverance of a physical copy of the paper. Recently, we decided to commit our extra time into assembling a new website (thedrewacorn.wordpress.com).
In order to secure a smooth transition, the Board made the difficult decision of publishing physical papers bi-weekly while pushing weekly articles onto the website. For transparency, the Editorial Board would like to take this time to explain the processes we follow for choosing and publishing content for the following sections: News, Student Life, and Opinions.
Each weekend, the Editorial Board establishes what we call a “sked,” it is an official document to which the Board and the writers have access. The “sked” outlines each section of the paper: News, Student Life, Diversions, Opinions and Sports. Editors communicate with their writers to decide what will be covered in the forthcoming issue and who will write each article.
For the News section, we generally cover guest speakers, major contemporary events that affect Drew students and faculty, and events organized by the university. Sometimes we cover events when club leaders give sufficient (a week or more) notice to the Editorial Board given that we have an available writer that is able to attend the event. However, we do not allow club members or leaders to write an article for their own event as this creates conflict of interest.
For the Student Life and Arts section, the editors go through the Drew Today Announcements for events related to student clubs. We also include book, film and theater reviews as well as off-campus trips. We follow similar procedures when club leaders ask us to cover an event (a club leader or member cannot write an article for their/his/her own event).
For the Opinions section, we include the Lead Ed which reflects a collective opinion of the Editorial Board about a particular topic or issue affecting Drew students at the time. We also have regular contributing writers who submit pieces that reflect their own personal opinions about different issues. Additionally, we welcome Letters to the Editor and pieces written by any student, staff and/or faculty member in the university. We encourage cordial and just discussions to happen within our paper – which serves as a foundation for free speech. We strive to publish a variety of viewpoints in the Opinions section – after all, it is the opinions section. We invite all Drew community members to submit letters to the editor at theacorn@drew.edu. We will never turn down a piece of writing based on its opinions. However, the Editorial Board reserves the right to not publish slanderous or defamatory writing.
As we only print physical papers every other week, we choose articles based on a first-come, first-serve basis. We also choose articles to print based on what events/happenings are the most significant. The Acorn Editorial Board archives a physical copy of each issue.
The Board strives to represent Drew in the fairest and most complete way possible, drawing upon the principles of journalistic integrity and free speech. For questions, comments, and/or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at theacorn@drew.edu. We are here to address your concerns. Thank you.
