Dear Editors,
I was troubled to learn that The Observer’s editor-in-chief Rachel Benaim is also the president of the Yeshiva University College Republicans. As a newspaper that must represent the entire student body, not just a segment of it, I think her position presents a conflict of interest. While I suspect most students will think my sensitivity of interest conflicts is overwrought, the fact that Miss. Benaim has an active official position (and a high one at that) on a club that advocates for a specific platform seems to me troublesome for an “independent” newspaper.
Best,
Gavriel Brown
Features Editor, The Commentator
Dear Mr. Brown,
First, I would like to commend your dedication to journalistic standards and propagating the unbiased distribution of information.
Although I do see why, objectively, you would find it troubling that Ms. Benaim’s political affiliations could skew the way she runs her paper, do you have any specific evidence to support your claim that her political affiliations have affected the objectivity and integrity of this paper?
I believe that if you review each and every issue of The Observer under her auspices, you will not find a single instance of political bias.
Cheers,
The Observer