The Crimson White Print Edition - September 21, 2023

2A
EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor-in-Chief
Managing Editor
Engagement Editor
Diversity, Equity, and
Inclusion Chairperson
Chief Copy Editor
Assistant Copy Editors
Opinions Editor
News Editor
Ashlee Woods
editor@thecrimsonwhite.com
Carson Lott
managingeditor@thecrimsonwhite.com
Ronni Rowan
engagement@thecrimsonwhite.com
Jeffrey Kelly
dei@thecrimsonwhite.com
Jack Maurer
Sarah Clifton
Cassie Montgomery
Victor Hagan
letters@thecrimsonwhite.com
Ethan Henry
newsdesk@thecrimsonwhite.com
Assistant News Editors Maven Navarro
Jacob Ritondo
Culture Editor Savannah Ichikawa
culture@thecrimsonwhite.com
Sports Editor Abby McCreary
sports@thecrimsonwhite.com
Assistant Sports Editor Bella Martina
Photo Editor Natalie Teat
Assistant Photo Editor Riley Thompson
Chief Page Editor Natalie Marburger
Chief Graphics Editor Shelby West
Multimedia Editor Augustus Barnette
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The Crimson White, Copyright © 2023
Our View:
Reaffirming our commitment to
diversity, equity and inclusion
The Crimson White
Editorial Board
With the 10th
anniversary of The
Crimson White’s “Final
Barrier” story, The Crimson
White’s editorial board
would be remiss not to
take this opportunity to
reflect and address The
CW’s past and future as a
publication.
“We have called out
administrative silence, but
we have also legitimized it.
We have raged against the
Machine, but we have also
excused it. Throughout
those 125 years, we have
centered white students
and white stories. We are
not enemies of the people.
But we are not always
heroes either. It’s long past
time that we look inward
and make sustainable
changes to the way we do
news.”
The 2020-21 Crimson
White editorial board
wrote those words three
years ago during a period
of political turmoil, social
unrest and uncertainty
that spurred several
companies, organizations
and groups — like The CW
— to address their internal
diversity issues.
Now, in 2023,
The Crimson White
is addressing our
shortcomings since that
piece was published, in
an effort to reaffirm that
promise those five women
made to the University in
2020.
What has worked
At the time that piece
was written, only two
Black men and no women
of color had held the
position of editor-in-chief.
Since then, two women
of color have taken up
the task of leading the
student newspaper. If The
Crimson White desires to
put more diverse voices
in and throughout the
framework of the paper,
those same voices must
be in leadership positions
helping create the
necessary relationships.
The Crimson White
has also taken the time
The Crimson White editorial board consists of Editor-in-Chief Ashlee Woods; Managing Editor Carson Lott;
Engagement Editor Ronni Rowan; Opinions Editor Victor Hagan; and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Chairperson Jeffrey Kelly.
to ensure that minority
voices are included in
our stories and images.
Under the direction of
former Editor-in-Chief
Rebecca Griesbach, two
race and identity reporters
were added to our staff,
designed to carry out
robust and nuanced
reporting of minority
issues and topics on
campus. The Crimson
White also added the
regular practice of source
reporting modeled after
publications like NPR and
Wisconsin Public Radio.
This was another way The
Crimson White ensured
that diverse voices were
at the forefront of our
reporting.
What we’re
changing
However, what
the current editorial
board has found is that
although you may have
leaders of different
shades, ethnicities
and socioeconomic
backgrounds,
intentionality will
always reign supreme
in implementing true
diversity, equity and
inclusion.
The Crimson White
must strive to adhere to
an ethical guideline built
around care, nuance and
tactfulness. With this in
mind, The Crimson White
has decided to create a
mission statement that
has been shared among
the staff and now will
be shared with the UA
community.
Staff members and
contributors will work
together to create and
maintain a safe, diverse
and collaborative newsroom
that prioritizes accurate
and compelling storytelling.
The Crimson White will also
be committed to covering
historically underrepresented
communities in media with
tact and nuance. To best
prepare staff members
for professional jobs and
internships in media, The
Crimson White will also
work to give contributors
the chance to add bylines,
while also giving them tools
and training with industry
professionals.
This statement is a
foundation for many of
the new practices and
elements The Crimson
White has adopted this
year.
Arguably the most
important move The
Crimson White has made
in our efforts to address
our internal issues of
diversity, equity and
inclusion is the addition
of a diversity, equity and
inclusion chairperson.
In the past, The Crimson
White has not done an
adequate job ensuring that
these issues remain at the
forefront of our minds in
everyday coverage. The
addition of this position
not only to the staff but
also to the editorial board
is an intentional decision
that underscores this
year’s staff’s desire not
only to grow as reporters,
but to prepare our
newsroom for the future.
The Crimson White’s
editorial board also
acknowledges our
failure in the past to be
completely transparent
about our diversity, equity
and inclusion efforts. That
is something we want to
rectify this year, so below
is a list of other practices
The Crimson White is
implementing this year.
Reworking our sourcereporting
system.
Under the careful
guidance of The CW’s
diversity, equity and
inclusion chairperson,
staff members and editors
will record the race,
identity and background
of sources we use in our
stories with a voluntary
anonymous survey given
to sources after interviews.
These records will be
compiled into a monthly
source report available
to the editorial staff to
help us track our progress
and hold ourselves
accountable.
In addition, The CW will
create an end-of-year staff
diversity report and source
diversity report that will
be available to the public.
Increasing the diversity
of sources and staff.
This year, The CW
aims to increase the use
of BIPOC, LGBTQIA+,
women and other minority
sources. Our goal is to
incorporate at least two
in our articles where
their voices are needed
and valuable, with one
being an “expert” voice (a
professor, faculty member,
coach, player, etc.).
With our recruitment
efforts, the managing
editor has updated the
application process to
collect demographic
information, so The
CW better understands
what communities
we’re not reaching and
can strategize how to
best recruit and retain
diverse contributors. The
information is shared only
with the editor-in-chief
and managing editor.
Hosting multiple
diversity, equity and
inclusion training
sessions spread
throughout the year.
The diversity, equity
and inclusion chairperson
and the editorial board
will plan two to four
training sessions centered
on issues of diversity in
media. These training
courses are designed to
help contributors, staff
members and editors
learn how to spot these
issues and resolve them
in a healthy manner. The
trainings will also include
writing and reporting
workshops led by minority
media professionals.
Updating the current
CW house style guide.
The chief copy editor;
the diversity, equity and
inclusion chairperson; and
the editor-in-chief will
work together to update
the current CW style guide.
This will include a detailed
section on how to ethically
report on groups, events,
organizations and issues
that involve minority
groups on campus. The
updated style guide will
pull inspiration from
professional style guides
from organizations like the
National Association of
Black Journalists, NLGJA:
The Association of LGBTQ+
Journalists and the Native
American Journalists
Association and adapt
coverage techniques and
terminology into our own
style guide.
Creating strategic
partnerships.
The Crimson White
will look to build
relationships with student
organizations and leaders
on campus.
These relationships
will serve two purposes:
to provide the newspaper
with a more diverse pool
of potential applicants and
repair relationships with
certain community groups
on campus.
To further our efforts
toward transparency, The
Crimson White would
like to share our in-house
diversity statement that all
editors have signed.
The Crimson White
would also like to
acknowledge that the last
three years show that
while working toward
creating sustainable
change within our
publication and upholding
diversity, equity and
inclusion in coverage,
we’ve hit stumbling blocks
and suffered various
growing pains that are
synonymous with the
learning that’s needed
to be truly equitable and
inclusive.
These growing pains
will not deter us from
continuing to work toward
our goal of ethical and
equitable coverage of the
UA community.