By Negin Khodayari
New years bring a chance to reflect on our habits and evaluate our choices. 2023 brought a lot of uncertainty to our industry, from the surge of dynamic artificial intelligence tools that took the world by storm early in the year to Meta’s reaction to Bill C-18, which left news outlets seeking to restructure their distribution models in Canada. Yet, through all these trials and tribulations, one thing has and will always remain consistent at The Eyeopener: our dedication to generating ethical, accurate and honest coverage.
Apart from this being an industry standard that all outlets should abide by, The Eye’s constitution clearly states, “The EYEOPENER shall not publish any submission which is known to contain information which has been falsified or distorted to promote the aims or concerns of any special interest group, political body, or individual.”
As such, we take pride in our reporting, pursuit of truth and verification process which has allowed us to remain one of the largest student-run publications at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) since 1967.
In late August, we renewed our promise to you, the TMU community, to hold everyone in a position of power at the university accountable. This has not changed.
However, it’s also not as easy as it seems.
Ethical journalism refers to coverage that is impartial, verified, fair and true—without fear or favour. Ethical journalism cannot be rushed or forced, despite people’s efforts.
In November of last year, the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU) held its anticipated byelection which saw some candidates receive 10 demerit points as they were found in violation of the Elections Procedures Code.
In the campaigning period prior to the elections, some TMU community members took to social media to express their concerns with some candidates. Others broadcasted their frustration with The Eye, falsely claiming that we have been partial in our coverage.
We don’t take these claims lightly. Verifying information, especially sensitive issues that have extreme repercussions, cannot be done overnight and cannot be forced.
As per our constitution, we must have facts and hard evidence to hold those in power accountable. Anything other than this not only hurts the reputation of the publication and its staff but compromises the safety of the publication as a community space.
Moving forward, The Eye will continue to seek out and report on the truth only when it has gathered hard evidence and verifiable accounts by individuals who—while they may choose to remain anonymous to the public—are willing to share their identity with our editorial board as part of our identification process.
Should you have any concerns with our content, critical analysis of The Eye’s coverage is welcome and will not be dismissed if it is fair and factual.
Our constitution states, “An editorial complaint shall be defined as a specific complaint (other than factual) lodged by a specific course of action from the EYEOPENER.”
Once a complaint is received, it will be presented to the editorial board, which will then decide whether the course of action proposed by the complainant is acceptable or if an alternate course of action should be followed.
With that, Happy New Year TMU. Let this be our testimony to you, that we promise to offer you honest, fact-based reports. We are your student newspaper, that will never waver, no matter what they say about us.
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