Let's face it: The Daily Helmsman is the best damn newspaper on campus.
I may seem proud, and as the new editor-in-chief of the paper, I am.
Over the break, our reporters and editors were gone - to home, on vacation, to get married, etc. - but they still managed to pull together some of the best coverage of on-campus happenings in Memphis.
Just check out the front page.
And although the newspaper stands were empty, the Helmsman Twitter account was up and running, breaking U of M stories through the semester interval.
I'm proud of this newspaper. I'm proud of its heritage and unwavering commitment to making sure students get the whole truth about campus news. I'm proud that the paper is adapting to an increasingly paper-free world.
I'm proud of this independent school newspaper, and you should be, too.
Within the past few years, The Helmsman has covered student murders, campus protests and University scandals, among other incidents, garnering several awards in the process. I've looked through the archives, and the last few semesters of The Helmsman seem to be some of the newspaper's golden years. The Helmsman regularly scores the high-profile campus stories before the bigger, better-funded news outlets in the area.
Yet, despite the continued success and professionalism of the newspaper's staff, some people - both on- and off-campus - marginalize the role of the student press. But without The Helmsman, students would have to rely on The University of Memphis to package and deliver their news.
Not that I don't trust U of M administrators - most of them are good people who have the students' best interests at heart - but without The Helmsman, students would hear about all the good things on campus and none of the bad. The Helmsman is a unique institution on campus because it doesn't sugarcoat the bad things. It doesn't just tell students what they want to hear or what The University wants them to know.
As this paper shows, not all that happens around campus is good. Not all of it makes The U of M look good. But, it's the truth, and it's what students need to know if they are to be informed about what's going on. Information is power, as the old saying goes, and I want to make sure that students stay powerful.
Be proud that someone is sticking up for you. That someone wants you to know the unbiased and unfettered truth.
Be proud of The Daily Helmsman.
