The Express Editorial Board
As members of the media, we are responsible for providing honest and, most importantly, factual news to those in our surrounding community.
In order to do this, there is a necessity for trust between a newspaper and its readers.
It is with regret that we inform all of The Express readers that this trust was breached.
On Dec. 9, 2016, we printed an article titled “Silent Sky tells the story of feminism and progression,” which was written by our reporter Cierra Martinez.
Unfortunately, as we were unaware at the time, the article was fabricated and Martinez did not in fact attend the play for the review that she wrote.
The severity of this issue must not be denied. When stories of any type are no longer reliable, then the public has nowhere to turn for the truth.
We at The Express understand the severity and magnitude of this mistake and have done everything we can to prevent this from happening again.
To combat the issues of misreported news and other ethical dilemmas for our paper in the future, we have focused more time and effort on teaching new reporters about the need for factual information and integrity based on our own experiences and the words of our sources.
We have let our newest members know that not having anything to turn in is better than turning in something false, and have doubled our efforts for editors to work more closely with less experienced staff who may need guidance.
In addition, fact checking and cross-referencing sources will be a point of emphasis moving forward.
While it is obviously inexcusable for a large corporate news group to lie to its readers, it is no less reprehensible for even a small student paper like ours to do the same.
Our readers depend on us for reliable information and relevant news that affects our campus. Even the smallest of errors is a dreadful blot that carries the potential to erase all of our credibility.
In today’s climate of “alternative facts” and rampant fake news spread across social media, it is of the utmost importance for newspapers like us to report the truth.
It is a team effort at The Express, so as we accept full responsibility as a unit, we will all move forward to improve and recover in the same fashion.
With that, we extend our sincere apologies to all parties affected by this incident and hope that we may earn your trust again soon. Thank you for your continued support.
