Journalists have a responsibility to ensure that their reporting is both accurate and equitable. To fact check, you need to have diligence and a sharp eye; there is a clear right and wrong. To write and edit equitably, however, is significantly more complicated and just as important. At The Strand, although we strive to produce equitable reporting, we acknowledge that we will not always be correct. When we make a mistake, we need to ensure that we will be held accountable to adjust our practices. A large part of being accountable involves engaging our community as well as our fellow student journalists in an active discussion.
The heart of equitable reporting is listening to community members with lived experiences; about going to the source and seeking to represent these communities as they are. Reporting equitably means being mindful of the language and the rhetoric that we use to write about marginalized communities and ensuring that we are not misrepresenting them. It means taking the time to consider each story and recognizing that each one is unique. Jacob Dubé, Editor-in-Chief of Ryerson University’s independent student newspaper The Eyeopener, says “equitable reporting means knowing that every story, especially those covering issues that involve marginalized groups, shouldn’t be treated the exact same way.” Equitable reporting “means being willing to listen and learn at all times, while being aware of how stories can affect public perception of a community.” Dubé recognizes that being aware of the stereotypes and prejudices at play is essential for the active resistance of these ideas.
UofT’s The Varsity also points out that the spaces in which we create our work, along with our work itself, must be equitable. Equitable reporting expands far beyond the words that end up on the page; it begins as we decide what to cover, who we will consult, and the ways in which we conduct ourselves as we approach our work.
Recognizing these issues within the community of student journalism is not enough. As campus publications, we can and should always be striving for further inclusivity and equitable representation of marginalized communities. Inequitable journalism stems from ignorance, and our journalism as well as our internal practices must combat this.
In support of our commitment to producing equitable journalism, The Strand has undertaken the creation of an Equity Style Guide. We have done so under the guidance of equity-minded student groups, such as VicPride!, and members inside and beyond our immediate community. Georgia Lin, our Opinions Editor and the VUSAC Equity Commissioner has been an integral part of this process and has enabled us to get this project off the ground. Our Equity Style Guide is by no means comprehensive; rather than a complete document, this guide is meant to be a dynamic and changing resource to be consulted by our writers, editors, and community members as we strive to make our publication as accessible and accurate as possible. In an attempt to create an ongoing dialogue, we have published our guide online and created a feedback form. We want your ideas on how we can do better, within the guide and within our publication.
Our inspiration for the creation of the Equity Style Guide came from our colleagues Sid Drmay and Sierra Bein at The Eyeopener. They encouraged us to implement measures to ensure that our team has the necessary resources to prioritize equity in our journalism and shared with us what they had . Student journalists must help each other learn and support one another in the process.
The Eyeopener introduced annual equity training sessions three years ago, through which their staff is trained on how to cover stories related to different communities. This specialized instruction speaks to the specific challenges that writers and editors may be faced with proactively, in a way that The Strand’s equity training perhaps does not. Victoria College’s Equity Commission holds equity training for all of its levies (of which The Strand is included), but this training will not be specific to our needs as a publication, and will not happen until later this month, at which point we will have already produced four issues. We recognize that individualized equity training isn’t provided to levies like The Strand because of the emotionally draining nature of equity work on campus. The Varsity also recognizes the need for further opportunities for equity training for their masthead and staff. In the past, they have done equity training with UofT’s Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office (ARCDO), but similarly see a need for more publication-specific resources. We must consider what we can be doing ourselves, rather than relying on other organizations to reach out to teach or regulate us. Equity training is a daunting task, as it’s impossible to cover every issue that we may encounter in a single document or training session. Dubé identifies an incentive in “educating [their] volunteers on equity issues, which would then help them teach others wherever they go, especially since it’s not exactly something [Ryerson] focuses on.”
Dubé mentions that The Eyeopener’s editors “make sure that the voices in our written pieces, as well as the writers themselves, are representative of our diverse population.” According to Dubé this has led to more people of colour running for and being elected to their masthead. The Varsity highlights a number of specific efforts that their masthead has been making, including giving Black and Indigenous writers a platform within their Comment section, and their News Editor’s effort to consult more gender diverse experts for their stories.
Engaging with other student publications provides a wonderful opportunity for self-reflection, but we must expand our reach beyond our offices in order to have conversations that will help us grow into more equitable journalists.
Hold us accountable and become a part of this dialogue. Reach out to us at thestrand.ca/feedback. We’d love to learn from you.
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