EDITORIAL: Daily Targum continues to serve, inform
On April 30, The Daily Targum failed to pass referendum across the Rutgers–New Brunswick campus for the first time since receiving its independence from the University in 1980.
Whether it was an indictment of our reporting or a reflection of a disengaged student body, we took the referendum results as an opportunity to reorganize and refocus our efforts as an independent news organization.
At our core, we are a non-profit news source serving the Rutgers community first and foremost. We are not driven by the biases innate in for-profit journalism. We are not an arm of the University. We stand with the students, alumni, professors, non-tenured faculty and all of those who make Rutgers a university that it is in our pursuit of truth.
While a debate could be had on whether mainstream media has a primarily liberal bias, sensationalism is the self-evident lens through which news corporations function today. The for-profit structure of news outlets instruct how and what is presented to the public with ratings, viewers and subscribers as the ultimate goal.
The Targum has no such constraints, no such underlying streams that push and pull our dissemination of information and no such sensationalist agenda.
We are nondoctrinaire, nondogmatic to a cause other than that of the welfare of the Rutgers community. We set out to inform and inspire conversations on campus, responding to your interests and holding accountability of the decision-makers that shape the experiences of the community members. Without the Targum, the main source of information on Rutgers would be the University itself. Our main source of information is not Rutgers Today, but rather it is the community we serve.
Moving forward, the Targum is establishing more ways to engage with the community and campus. We will continue to strengthen the bridge between you and us to ensure the your voices and concerns do not go unheard. On the Targum's website you will find a “submit a tip” link. Email us, reply to us on social media, comment on stories published online, slide into our direct messages and hold us accountable just as we hold the University accountable.
The opinions section is posed to be your platform, always open for commentaries from community members. The Targum is by students, for students.
When the University raises tuition costs, we critically investigate and report. When Rutgers is exposed for investing in fossil fuels, we inform the community and put our finger on the scale, adding our weight to the pressures pushing for divestment. When we meet with the president of the University, we sit at the table with your and Rutgers’ interest guiding our questions.
For all of our research advancements, all of our wins and losses, all of our experiences, the Targum is there. The sports section does not treat our athletes as just numbers or jerseys. We treat them as individuals. We ensure that no teams go overlooked or unappreciated.
As we engage with the events and news that impact you, we hope you engage with us as well. We will continue to complete the daunting task of bringing contextualized and fully-formed facts to the community as we hope you continue to pick up the paper and visit our website. For Rutgers, for the community, for you, the Targum continues.
The Daily Targum's editorials represent the views of the majority of the 151st editorial board. Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the Targum Publishing Company or its staff.
