Journalism 101

Residence fees on the rise
Residence fees will go up 15-18 percent next year. The reason for the hike is the implementation of universal high speed Internet for everyone in residence.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of the U of S student newspaper, the Sheaf. Now I don't know about you, but when I read something in the News section of the newspaper, in a piece called "News Briefs", I expect it to be true. Not that I think the fee-hike isn't true; I believe that well enough. It's the other part, about the reason for the hike. Initially I just ran some numbers in my head and realized they didn't add up, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that the problem is deeper than that. So deep, in fact, that I think it's time for a little refresher on what it means to run a newspaper (that isn't, oh I dunno... Pravda).

I did a little digging on facts related to what I'm writing about (I call it "research"), and stumbled on the site Journalism.org. They have all sorts of helpful information about journalism, including something called The Accuracy Checklist written by The Society of Professional Journalists. The checklist is essentially a bunch of questions journalists should ask themselves prior to submitting a piece, and I think it'd be useful to apply it here.

The first question on the list is "Do you have a high level of confidence about the facts in your story?" Seeing as how in this case the entire story is only two sentences, this shouldn't take long.

Fact 1: Rez fees are going up 15-18%.
A couple of Google searches and a minute with Windows Calculator shows that while rez fees are in fact increasing, they're going up by eight percent, not fifteen to eighteen percent.
Conclusion: Fact 1 is FALSE.

Fact 2: The reason for the hike is the implementation of high-speed internet for everyone in rez.
If this were true, one would expect the fee hike to equal the amount of high-speed internet service ($34.95/month, or less with a phone line bundle). However, the increase amounts to about $50/month. This means that at least $75,000 extra is being taken from students' pockets; it also means that the reason as reported does not make sense.
Conclusion: Fact 2 is FALSE.

But wait! There is another possibility; Fact 2 could indeed be true, in that it's possible the Rez Office has found a way to do a job for much, much more than it should actually cost. But why? What could possibly motivate them to do such a thing, and where would all the extra money go? (or, to quote another Journalism.org question: "What is your source's agenda, and how is it distorting your understanding of the story?")

Using other universities as examples, we find that when residences get universal internet, they also get an intranet (room-to-room computer network). If this were the case, the extra labour and equipment necessary would account for the increased costs. However, we're still left with the question of "Why?". Maybe the U of S is simply feeling altruistic, and wants to do a good deed (unlikely). Maybe they are starting to realize that today's students, when choosing a university they must also live at, expect things like high-speed internet (more likely). Or perhaps (as with most things the University does) it's simply a way to get students to bear the costs of a project they will never directly benefit from. To find out, the Sheaf would've done well to ask themselves some more questions, such as "What other potential sources can you tap to minimize the distortion and corroborate your understanding of what the story means in a broader context?" (also from Journalism.org). Had they done so, they probably would have come across (as I did) the following quote from Director of Consumer Services John Olson, from the Jan 23rd '04 issue of the On Campus News.

"...among the most exciting plans is one for construction within 2 1/2 years of a new 700-bed dormitory residence and a 500-bed apartment residence along the east side of Cumberland Avenue just south of College Drive. Plans also call for changing over Saskatchewan Hall, Qu'Appelle Hall and Athabasca Hall to University academic and office use..."

Aha, so now we're getting somewhere. The university, after years of ignoring students' requests for a residence intranet and actively condemning student-led network initiatives (such as LAVnet in Qu'Appelle Hall Addition) has suddenly realized that it will soon find itself with a complex of office buildings that lack a computer network. Solution? Have the network installed at the expense of next year's crop of student residents, while at the same time appear to be 'investing in students' and taking steps to modernize the university. Pretty sneaky, eh?

You don't know that! The timing could just be a coincidence! And you can't honestly expect the Sheaf to make sure the stuff they print is actually true! All that checking would be practically a full-time job! Plus, the Sheaf isn't all bad! What about Craig Range, and Will Robbins, and Jeremy Warren! And that well-written, well-researched Patrick Thomson piece on the same page as "News Briefs" that, just as it gets really scathing, uh, gets cut off by an ad for Peanut Buster Parfaits... ... um... and the Teddy Bares! You're just trying to badmouth the Sheaf because you're still choked from that time you submitted an article, they rewrote it into a watered-down smear piece and published that instead, and then never ran the corrections you sent them!

Yeah, that did suck. And, sadly, for every Will Robbins or Jeremy Warren, there's a Derek Turner or a Kevin Gambell. For every Craig Range, a James Pepler. For every Teddy Bares, worst of all, a Danger Joel. As for not printing lies and bullshit: yeah, I do expect them to check the facts they report. All of them. And it wouldn't be practically a full-time job, it would be a full-time job. There's even a name for it. It's called journalism.