This is Your Newspaper

As Editor-in-Chief of The Swinging Bridge, it is both my job and privilege to provide a mouthpiece to the students of Messiah College. Through the student newspaper, upper- and under-classmen alike can articulate their personal convictions, start healthy discussions on topics that are timely and relevant, and inform one another about noteworthy events. Unfortunately, some seem to be unaware of The Swinging Bridge's purpose, opting to harass writers and editors in person and on Facebook for material published in our newspaper. The two criticisms of this year's Swinging Bridge that I have heard the most is that we feature the men's soccer team too much and that our articles are politically biased toward Barack Obama. It is certainly true that we have run more articles that articulate support of Obama over McCain. It is also a fact that the men's soccer team has appeared in more issues of The Swinging Bridge than any other team. "Why does The Swinging Bridge seem to be so biased?" people have been asking. The answer is simple: student contributions.

As a staff, The Swinging Bridge works hard to establish and maintain a newspaper that is written, produced, and perfected by students. That being said, we can only publish what people give us.

Do you disagree with Mike Holmes' critical review of Cardinology? Send us an email. Do you have a problem with Tim Mackie tackling the issue of Messiah's stance regarding homosexuality? Post a comment on our website. Would you like to present a counter-argument to Amanda Arbour's advocacy of Barack Obama as the next U.S. president? Write an article in response!

It is simple to read an article that you flat-out disagree with and complain to your friends about it over dinner in Lottie. But what will that accomplish? The Swinging Bridge is the one publication on campus in which students can voice their opinions without having to go through the filtering systems of staff or faculty. That is its purpose--to give students a voice and a safe place to address the issues that they perceive as important.

It is never our goal as a staff to come across as a biased team. While we each have our personal viewpoints, we come together to make a publication that gives a voice to every student at Messiah who wants one--provided that the topics go beyond the tired, cyclical, political talking-point subjects (i.e. violence/nonviolence, women in leadership, partisan political name-calling). It is important for readers to understand that the articles appearing in the Opinions section are just that-the opinions of the individual authors. Comments made by contributors should not be viewed as representative of the entire publication, but rather as a reflection of the individual writer.

If you disagree with something that you read in The Swinging Bridge, I encourage you to make it known--but do so in a way that will benefit you and your peers. Don't just blow off steam; write an article or submit a letter to The Swinging Bridge. We promise that we won't hunt you down or cry ourselves to sleep over it.

Students can contact the Swinging Bridge by email (TheSwingingBridge@messiah.edu) or through our website (www.messiahsb.com).