Re: ‘Another drunken Saturday’

As a journalism student, I understand the intentions behind Nathan Brown’s article, “Another drunken Saturday.” The drinking culture has heavily influenced recent news on our campus, and I applaud Brown for taking on the challenge of such a delicate topic.

But as a journalist, Brown should know the importance of the execution of a story. His filtering, lack of sources and reporting bias only highlight the deeper issues our campus has.

I’m proud to be an IU student and woman in the greek system. However, I refuse to be represented by the actions of one anonymous source who’s also an IU student and a woman in the greek system.

Pure objectivity is impossible to achieve, especially with this topic, which involves countless demographics and personal stories.

It’d be difficult for Brown to follow every student at a tailgate and feature their experiences on the front page, but journalists have a moral obligation to be as fair as possible.

We hold so much power in our published word that it’s easy for what we write to be projected as a generalized fact.

Amanda’s account is upsetting, but where are the rest of your sources? Where are the stories of the students located on the other side of the tailgate fields or in the parking lot?

The drinking issue affects the entire population.

Not one person or group takes full responsibility for the problem, and Brown had a duty to be fair by attempting to represent the diverse student body in this article.

By only interviewing a greek woman, an IU issue is now labeled as a greek issue. Lazy reporting leads to generalizations, which does not create the change that I believe Brown wanted to achieve.

I want to add that I’ve seen the tailgate culture transform these past four years.

Both IU and the greek councils have implemented huge changes to the drinking culture, and though it’s not perfect, the new restrictions have caused tailgates to be much safer.

People say we must recognize the issues and start making a change, but they don’t realize these changes have already begun.

— leehmke@indiana.edu