How we cover the Greek system
September 25, 2009
I understand why the Greek community is upset.
Our headlines have been dominated by topics that relate to fraternities and sororities — some directly, others less so.
We have not devoted so much space to these issues because of a vendetta against the Greek system. Many members of The Daily Tar Heel, including editors, are in fraternities or sororities.
But cocaine arrests and the changing relationship between the University and the fraternity system are big news in our community, and we would be irresponsible if we chose not to cover them as completely as possible.
Several letters to the editor and online comments have questioned why we mentioned the Greek connections of several students arrested for cocaine possession.
I don’t think cocaine use is endemic to the sorority system. We’ve been cognizant of that in our articles.
The DTH has for years published the address of arrested students when the information is available, and such a policy is common practice at news organizations throughout the country.
A recent example is last spring, when a student was charged with taking pictures of women in the shower. We noted that he lived in Teague Residence Hall.
And you better believe that if five DTH staffers were arrested on cocaine possession charges, their mug shots and addresses would be right up there on the front page.
We’ve also been asked why we reported on the cocaine arrests and did not write a story about several DTH staff members being cited for underage alcohol possession.
For years, the DTH has made it a policy not to write about incidents of underage drinking. Unfortunately, in this town or any college town, it’s not news. On any given weekend, up to two dozen people are given citations by the Chapel Hill Police Department for underage drinking.
An individual incident is not news. It becomes newsworthy when it results in suspension, investigation or intervention by a high-level UNC administrator.
That’s why we reported on the swim team captains being suspended. We knew of the citations the day before, but the fact that they were cited did not merit attention, though it was reported by The (Raleigh) News and Observer. When they were suspended, it became news.
The DTH has spent considerable time delving into the relationship between the Greek system and the University.
When Chancellor Holden Thorp announced that UNC would be re-evaluating how the University deals with fraternities in the wake of the death of the Delta Kappa Epsilon president, we knew we had a huge issue on our hands. Nearly 20 percent of campus is Greek, and Greek ties run deep into UNC’s history as the oldest public university in the country.
You may disagree with these guidelines. But in a job that requires so many ethical decisions made on a daily basis, we stick with the policies that have helped make us one of the best college newspapers in the country.
We will be holding the first meeting of our Community Feedback Board at 2 p.m. Oct. 9 in Union Room 3413.
I look forward to taking the opportunity to hear your thoughts on our coverage this year, about the Greek community and other topics.
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Don't be bullied!
Don't you do it! Don't you dare do it!
In the name of good ole fashioned journalism, stick to your guns. Look, getting blow at the big four frats and sororities is as popular as wearing jogging shorts as a fashion statement. It's becoming more popular than wearing a NorthFace jacket when the wind starts to blow. If you want to pretend that its not a part of the fraternity/sorority culture that's fine. People have been pretending that its not a big deal for years, but when most, if not all involved are former or current greek affiliated, it has to be a part of the story. Oh ok, let's see a story involving a fight at Players Nightclub involving a few members of UNC's football team and leave out that they are on the football team?
Here is what I'm willing to bet. I've already seen the amount of cocaine amazingly go from 319 grams down to 200 grams in the SAE/CHI-O case. Felony charges amongst the current students somehow seems a point of debate about their status as students? But I can bet my life that out of the text messeges that Eliza McQuail Vaughan sent to alert everyone of the "fire" cocaine she had, 95% if not 100% went to members of fraternities and sororities. I bet there was not 1 GDI in the bunch.
Have there been cocaine charges leveled against the baseball team, the Di & Phi debators or Rams Club? No! Is the reputation that Becky in Tri Delt has a coke problem? Yes. So report it!
Differentiate
Something that bothers me (and several others) and you have not addressed is that when you write about cocaine busts, you talk about the Greek community as if we're just one lump sum group. It's a large community with multiple organizations that are very different from one another.
For instance, when the DTH covered the swim team's suspension, the writers didn't mention the athletic community and the pattern between it and suspensions, but only the swim team.
When members of ONE sorority or fraternity in the Greek system is busted for cocaine, it should not reflect poorly on the Greek system as a whole -- and the same goes for athletics. There should be a differentiation between ONE organization and the community to which the organization belongs. There is a difference!
I am in a sorority, and I know that there are people that do drugs in fraternities and sororities. But it's so few members that it should not affect the rest of us negatively. So stop stereotyping every Greek as a drug-using alcoholic with no responsibilities. Greeks are very involved.
Has the DTH covered any 5K's or philanthropy events this year (the ADPi Ronathan occured in the midst of all this cocaine mess)? The Greeks' involvement in the Eve Carson Memorial Scholarship? Ever done research about the new organization called Greek Sustainability Council? Maybe you, DTH, should stop looking at the negatives and do some research.
research?
Speaking of research, perhaps the ladies at ADPi could have done a little researching about the length of a 5k. It's 3.1 miles, not 2.7...
Same old story
You greeks love to drag out that "our GPA is (marginally) higher than the student body as a whole" claim any time there is criticism directed toward you. Let me ask you a couple of questions:
1) Why don't you count members who are on academic probation in that number?
2) Why don't you compare average GPA compared to your non-greek peers, i.e. white, upper-middle-class students, instead of the entire student population which includes a larger percentage of underrepresented minorities, poor, and first generation college students?
article idea
I would like to see an in-depth article about underage drinking citations. How many UNC undergraduates, on a percentage basis, graduate without having been cited? What are the long- and short-term ramifications of one citation, more than one? How is it that the scare tactics of freshman orientation and dorm RA talks wear off so soon? Are there alternatives to parties where there is pervasive drinking: and outside of the no-substances dorms, where do they take place? How many UNC grads have already reached the point of alcoholism before they march?
In college who you are sort of comes down to your hometown, your major, your affiliation(s). Being a "Greek" is kind of like being an "accountant" once you're an adult who is gainfully employed. In arrest reports and obits, a person is often identified by age, address, and some sort of occupation or affiliation. So I don't think the DTH is doing anything wrong or biased using soror/frat affiliation as an identifier. Publishing the person's major would also be interesting...
Actually, since underage
Actually, since underage drinking is apparently so prevalent that it's not newsworthy, I'd actually be interested in this article to discuss why it's such an issue, and why (effective) steps haven't been taken to stop it.
Of course it's news if a greek is involved in such matters
I visited the Chi Omega website to get an un filtered view of what they're all about:
"Over the years, Chi Omega has nurtured its members, one woman at a time, with unique opportunities in leadership, scholarship and lifelong friendship - striving to provide each Sister with a commitment to personal integrity, excellence in academic and intellectual pursuits, intergenerational participation, community service, leadership opportunities and social enrichment."
It seems to me that getting repeatedly busted for cocaine use is important to any local organization that the sisters volunteer at. For instance, if I were operating a head start program that received volunteers from the local CHi Omega, I'd hope they left the powder back at the lodge.
Repeatedly?
"It seems to me that getting repeatedly busted for cocaine use..."
Can you support your use of the term "repeatedly"? When you were perusing the Chi Omega website, did you happen to note the number of sisters in the UNC chapter? How many of those sisters have been arrested for cocaine possession? What is the Chi Omega house GPA and what is the campuswide women's GPA?
If you're going to try to do some research, the least you can do is dig for pertinent facts before making wholesale accusations.
Thanks for the
Thanks for the explanation.
Not to nitpick, but, to quote the article:
"Elizabeth Roberts Cogdell and Sarah Thomas Coxe, both 19, were arrested at 828 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., reports state. That is the address of the Chapel Hill Police Department.
Both are affiliated with the Chi Omega sorority.
Coxe's address is listed on police reports as 313 E. Franklin St. -- the location of the Chi Omega house. Cogdell's Facebook profile lists her involvement with the sorority."
I'm not sure if Cogdell also has a stated address of the Chi Omega house, although, interestingly, both of their affiliations are mentioned before addresses. The fact that the large majority involved share affiliations is interesting, though if all involved do not live at the house, does publishing the address of one member who happened to live at the sorority also demand inclusion of the affiliation of the others?
I think one of the original articles (Five arrested on cocaine chargers) mentioned only that the one of those involved lived at the Chi Omega house, omitting the addresses for others. Since then, addresses for others have still been omitted (unless they were in the Chi O or Sig Ep house), though their student group affiliations are mentioned.
I'm on board with covering this story, and I'm on board with the guideline of publishing addresses of those involved. However, when you omit the addresses of some involved and instead choose to focus on their affiliation (unless, of course, the address speaks to the affiliation), it is going to raise legitimate questions.
Do I think the DTH is implying that cocaine use is endemic to the Greek system? No.
Do I think that some of these articles have a bias (whether intentional or not) against Chi Omega? Maybe. Do I think the concerns about a possible conflict of interest by one sorority member writing an article against another are legitimate? Definitely.
Ultimately, the sentence: "Both are affiliated with the Chi Omega sorority." could have been struck from the article and it would have maintained its newsworthiness. From reading these guidelines, I can't see why it was necessary. If it were the case that both lived at the house, I'd understand a sentence to that effect. But this? This doesn't seem to click with the above.
I'll make an even more
I'll make an even more succinct post, using the 'twitter' lingo:
" RT @andrew_dunn: Two more UNC students arrested for cocaine. Both are Chi Omegas. http://bit.ly/xvHlb "
Again, if their affiliations are newsworthy, it's probably best to come out and state that share affiliations for those charged with these kinds of offenses are newsworthy, and skip the home address defense. If you're packing your most important news in 140 characters or less, the fact that you're mentioning it in the tweet shows how important it is to you, and by extension, the DTH.