Reporting the Truth- It`s The Bottom Line

Photo of two controversial Headlines posted by The Bottom line

Reporting the Truth – It’s The Bottom Line

By: Gwendolin Schemm, Alexus Clanton, Chelsea Parrinello, Reggie Simon

FROSTBURG, MD – Reporting the truth can subject not only the individual writer but the entire newspaper to criticism or backlash.

That is the reality that both current and former editors-in-chief of Frostburg State University’s campus newspaper, The Bottom Line, have faced when reporting on sensitive topics.

The independent and student-operated newspaper receives funding from the student activities fee that all Frostburg State University students are required to pay according to current editor-in-chief, Nicole Leighty.  

The First Amendment

Across the country, major news outlets have been at the forefront of criticism handed out by the current government administration. The First Amendment has been receiving massive amounts of attention because of it.   

Paralleling the freedom of speech, the freedom of press is granted to all citizens of the United States of America by the First Amendment which states, “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”

The right is both individual and institutional as student newspapers can freely express or write what they wish.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, freedom of the press is essential to maintaining democracy and creating a place for individuals to exercise their right to free speech by expressing themselves freely.

Check out “Free speech on Frostburg State University’s campus: whether you like it or not” for more information on the First Amendment and freedom of speech within the University.

The Bottom Line and the First Amendment

The independent, student run newspaper has found great success since its beginning in 1948 as it promises the readers that the staff will “report news and information that relates to the campus community” and “create a forum for the exchange of comment and criticism from the FSU community.”

Leighty and former editor-in-chief, Brad Kroner, agree that censorship never crossed their mind when publishing a story. Kroner goes on and said that the administration never attempted to censor them either and that the staff had the ability to tackle an issue as long as it was done accurately.

Leighty does continue on the say that there is a boundary between “stepping on toes, and stepping on toes too hard.”

Both Kroner and Leighty highlight that they only time information does not get printed is when it is considered “off the record” and closed to the press.

Kroner notes that the only time in his 4 years on the staff of The Bottom Line that he was told not to publish an article was, “During the Middle States re-accreditation process, I was told that an open meeting involving the accreditation of a public university was off record and closed to the press. The results of this meeting -- that Frostburg State was given a warning -- were eventually made public at a later date. I was never given a reasonable answer for why this meeting was off record.”

Writing for the Frostburg State University Student Body

While there is no speech code for the newspaper to follow and the University does not attempt to censor what is published, The Bottom Line remains subjected to criticism when articles deemed controversial are brought to the forefront.

Both Leighty and Kroner agree that students have a right to know what is going on and they find it to be their  jobs to address these issues and how the students will be impacted as a result. This belief  lies central to why they publish what they publish.

Two recent, controversial articles dominate the limelight in respect to criticism.

In May of 2016, Kroner released an article, “City of Frostburg Says 700 Residential Properties Are Out of Compliance with Inspection Schedule”, that was supported by daunting statistics and further evidence. The article was received almost immediately with criticism from landlords, town officials and locals. Kroner notes that not even 20 minutes following publication, a landlord messaged him on Facebook to critique the report. The article opened dialogue about the issue impacting students and a week following publication, updated data was provided- even though inspections were still far behind.

Kroner stands by the publication and said, “When covering the rental housing inspections, we felt students deserved to know the last time their unit was inspected.”

They stood by the story because it was the truth.

In September of 2017, “FSU Student Arrested For Alleged Second-Degree Murder” was published by Leighty.  The article highlights information about the murder of a Frostburg man, Alexander Stevens, that later resulted in the arrest of current student, Megan Shaffer. The piece writes about the charges against Shaffer and the attempts made by The Bottom Line to reach out and obtain an interview. Once the article was published and made its way to Facebook, Leighty was hit with backlash saying that the article was shaming the University.

She stated that she listened and reflected on the criticism, but maintained the article, as it was the truth – and in the end, that is their job - to report the truth.