Let's hope that this is not farewell
The Cornellian Editorial Board

A common perception today seems to be that print media are dying, as we have seen through recent questions about our publication on campus. While it is true that many large, daily newspapers such as The Baltimore Examiner and The Rocky Mountain Press have gone out of business in recent months, the perception that print media are going extinct is false. In actuality, small newspapers that cover local news, like The Cornellian or The Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun, are thriving because they provide news and information that their readers cannot get from any other source. Papers that cover local news are rediscovering their niche in the media industry.
The 2008 Quality of Life Survey found that 63 percent of participating Cornell students read The Cornellian. If this is a good representation of the student body as a whole, then approximately 756 students out of 1200 read our campus newspaper. Additionally, Cornell students expressed that the area of most interest in The Cornellian was campus news. Although there are online options to become informed of campus events and happenings, such as Today@Cornell and various news briefs on the Cornell website, students are still picking up the paper.
Furthermore, as the editorial board, we are truly frightened about what media are becoming. Since the newspaper industry is, as a whole, suffering, individual companies are limiting the number of staff positions available to the public, and are turning to cheaper options such as freelance writers and bloggers. With this trend, we question the quality of journalistic integrity within news reporting. As a result, we feel that the public will lose faith in news media. Objectivity is a quality of journalism that we, as a nation, value in our reporting. We are sad to say that, with these new media trends, objectivity is disappearing, only to be replaced by the opinions of those whose research requires no foundation.
It has been said that, while newspapers are dying, journalism is thriving – online. We question whether online news will be upheld to the same journalistic standards as print media. Today, anybody can post blogs online, creating a flood of information. However, are we losing quality in the quantity? Can journalistic integrity survive online the way it has in print media? Newspapers have been the “watchdog” of our government and our society, but is somebody watching them online? Are the same principles of integrity in print media applied to online sources?
While we agree that there are quality web sites out there, we think that the most reliable websites are the ones that are a supplement to print publications. Furthermore, items on a website may be destroyed or deleted. Print lasts forever. A mistake online may be fixed in a matter of seconds, whereas a printed publication can never be completely recalled. Knowing that news has the potential to completely disappear is frightening, especially if this option is abused.
With this being our last issue as the current editorial board, we hope that The Cornellian and the Cornell community understand our concerns and continue to value the publication we produce. As we hand over this publication to next year’s staff, we hope that they will continue our efforts to inform and entertain the Cornell student body, and to maintain journalistic integrity in spite of shifts in popular media trends. We hope The Cornellian will continue to take advantage of its position as a niche publication and focus on the Cornell community and what its members want to read in their newspaper. On behalf of the outgoing editorial board, we want to thank you for your readership and commitment to our publication.

The Cornellian Editorial Board