Join in the curiosity and dialogue

A new year starts, and some familiar questions are posed.

How will a lack of funds affect jobs and academic quality at the University? How will downtown development affect life on Franklin Street? Who will our next leaders be?

It is up to us all to be curious.

As members of a University community, it is our responsibility to be asking questions and engaging in a conversation about the future. That’s what we do in class and at work, and that’s what we need to do so our world can continue to deliver and improve, for us and for those who come after us.

At the heart of The Daily Tar Heel’s mission is to be a resource for those conversations and to aggressively seek to answer those questions.

Don’t take my word for it — just take a look at these pages, and let me know if we are or aren’t.

The best clue about whether we are serving our audience is your feedback.

We want you to come to us when you need explanation for a change, when you need to weigh a decision, when you need to plan for the future. Our experiences are shared, and like they say in school, chances are someone else has the same question.

There are more ways to get in touch with us and contribute your thoughts — and content — than ever.

Jump in on the dialogue. Our community manager, Sara Gregory, will be sparking conversations on dailytarheel.com, as well as Facebook, Twitter, Formspring, and other social media.

We want to be your voice and your forum. Send in your pictures and commentary to share your story in our pages or on our website.
And if you think we messed up big time, we want to know right away why.

We will strive to be as transparent as possible: to let you know as soon as we know if something needs to be corrected, to be clear about how we work and why we did what you don’t agree with, to respond quickly and openly to critique.

As the editor-in-chief, I pledge to facilitate our ties with the community and be an active listener.

I don’t need much of a push to be coerced into conversation — if you see me on campus, feel free to approach me and let me know what you think. Sometimes the greatest products can be inspired by those casual conversations about what you like, don’t like, or think we need.

Nothing we do is worth anything unless you trust that we’re producing work that is accurate, relevant and thorough.

To make sure we remain transparent and accountable, we’ve added a public editor — a person who will be able to bridge the gaps in understanding between the DTH and its readership.

Evan Rose, the public editor, has both an understanding of the inner workings of the newsroom and an ear to the campus at large. He aims to balance our efforts, triumphs and mistakes against your demands and expectations, so we ultimately can learn how to communicate with one another better.

He will meet regularly with community members, he will write columns to critique or explain our coverage, and he will keep a blog at dailytarheel.com.

If an issue is particularly straining our relationship, he’ll host a community forum for constructive conversation.

The Daily Tar Heel stands for its readers. Engage with us, question us and critique us so we can be your voice and resource.

I look forward to working with you!

Sarah Frier is the Editor-in-Chief at The Daily Tar Heel. She is a senior journalism major from Los Altos, Calif. Email her at frier@email.unc.edu