By Shira Kramer, Editor-in-Chief
Because this is the April edition, the second to last edition of the school year, it also marks my second to last editorial. When I began thinking about what to write, I considered the role the YU Observer plays in journalism, our school community and my life as an editor.
I, alongside Editor-in-Chief of The Commentator Hadassah Reich, was recently interviewed by Dean Rebecca Cypess for her blog post titled “From Questions to Community: Student Journalism and Jewish Tradition,” where the three of us discussed the importance of the student papers on our campus. When Dean Cypess asked how the papers and our own religious values intertwine, I found myself a bit stumped.
As an observant Jew, I believe that Torah values should be connected in every aspect of our lives. And as someone who believes in the concept of Torah Umadda (Torah and Science) that we learn at Yeshiva University every day, I know that this intersection is not black and white, but deeply textured.
Student journalism sits at that intersection. We aren’t a halachic publication and the “About” page on our website says nothing about explicit Jewish laws that we uphold. It does, however, discuss the Torah values (or at least things I consider to be Torah values) of “integrity, justice, and truth.” These are the values that guide how we report, how we edit and how we think about the impact of our words.
For me, those values aren’t abstract. Integrity means publishing even when the topic is uncomfortable, but doing so with accuracy and fairness. Justice means giving space for voices that might otherwise go unheard. Truth means approaching stories with intellectual honesty and attempting to rid ourselves of biases even when mainstream journalism is constantly accused of doing otherwise. These are deeply Jewish commitments that I am proud to say we’ve worked to uphold since our inception in 1958 and with G-d’s help will continue to do so for many years to come.
These values also shape how we think about the weight of our words, especially when it comes to something as central to Jewish life as lashon hara (hateful speech). This ideal is not a prohibition against reporting truth or asking hard questions. It is a prohibition against speech that is devoid of purpose. In her post, Dean Cypess published a quote from me that I stand by 100%: “The main thing I think about is that if we’re criticizing something, it should only be in order to promote goodness within the university or whatever we’re writing about.” To everyone reading this, I want to say that I have never published a piece in the YU Observer during my time in charge that I felt was for any purpose other than the greater good.
That doesn’t mean everything we publish will be perfect or that every piece will resonate with every reader. But it does mean that we approach our work with seriousness and care. It means we think about the people behind the stories. The students navigating their important college education, the faculty who teach and guide us, the administrators who shape campus life and the staff members who keep our university running. Journalism is always about people, and we take that seriously.
What I don’t believe — and what I don’t think our community expects of us — is that the role of a student newspaper is to filter student expression through a halachic lens before it reaches the page, regardless of the university community that surrounds it.
While the YU Observer is proudly part of the broader YU community, it is an independent student-run newspaper. That independence means we set our own editorial guidelines, shaped by journalistic standards and the values we believe in. As editor-in-chief, I get to determine what those guidelines are, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job so far.
If you, or anyone you know, has been upset by an article we’ve published or has views that differ from those of one of our writer’s, I would be happy for you to write to us and voice your opinion.
Chances are, I will even publish it.
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