When students arrive on a college campus, they enter a curious kind of social contract – an agreement that together, we can not only organize each other, but also that we will learn together, grow up together and replace the families we are leaving behind.  Here, we attempt to organize ourselves into a society, in hopes that someday the world will mimic the bubble that we have created.

Despite the hopefulness of youth, we could easily be made to feel more like stakeholders than citizens when the majority of our resources are owned by DU.

Supporting student-run press, therefore, says a great deal about DU as an institution – that it is willing to listen to the voice of its students, whether it brings praise or criticism. In a way, student media is DU’s best friend, earnestly recognizing its achievements and raising red flags at its failures with the hope that it will live up to its potential.

Although from the gold-plated tower of our mini-society at DU we can bemoan the declining ethics and increasing frivolities of mass media, what would our little democracy – or any democracy – be without it? The days when media acted as political watchdogs instead of political ad vendor may be dwindling – but should they be? That future is ours to decide.

As the new editor-in-chief of the Clarion, I do not promise to be perfect. I am a student of the world with a lot left to learn, and with the current state of printed press, there are few resources to learn it with. But in the face of growing societal doubts on the merits of the media, I do promise to fulfill the functions of press in a democracy to the best of my abilities.

I promise to confirm with the official source – and then look farther. In an age when too many stories come straight from a press release, I promise to double-check the official reports and come to you, the student body, for a reaction, too.

I promise to look forward. In an age of increasing digital presence, I want to get the news to you the way you get it best. Our new website is just the beginning of streamlining the news for you – and printing more sustainably.

I promise to report responsibly and accurately.Truth is the tenet of journalism, and will continue to separate student media from the blogs.

I promise to be fiscally responsible.  For the first time in years, the Clarion is an official student organization funded by Undergraduate Student Government (with $5,000 to cover $40,000 in expenses.) However, the paper also covers many of its own expenses (with advertising revenue around $36,000 per year).

While I am grateful for the generous support of the university, both monetary and otherwise, I will strive to increase independent revenue this year, so we can rise above the dire fiscal straits of print journalism and provide the most independent, responsible news as possible.  Because news is more than a bottom line.

You can argue that the free press is a myth of the past. But that will not stop me from searching for stories that affect you every day at DU.

Thanks for your support and readership, and good luck this year.

Updated Sept.18 for consistency with print edition.