Every now and then — perhaps more often than we’d care to admit — The Daily Cougar prints something or posts something online that upsets our readers.
While sometimes we do this on purpose, as is the case with an unpopular opinion we put in the editorial section when we feel the need to give the underdog a voice, other times it’s simply a lapse in judgment on our part; we want to take this opportunity to let our readers know that we don’t mean to upset them without reason.
We are, first and foremost, students here at The Daily Cougar. While some of us have internships or work with the likes of Houston Community Newspapers, the Houston Business Journal, the Houston Press and the Houston Chronicle, even the most experienced writers and editors amongst us are still learning the tricks of the trade.
Your view of the paper matters to us because we want to make sure we’re doing our jobs to the best of our abilities.
And if we aren’t, please let us know.
The most important quality any employee here must possess is an open mind. If someone comes into our offices and we find that they are prejudiced in any way, rest assured they will be of no use to us, and we won’t publish their work to rile you up.
During the summer and into the first few weeks of the fall semester, we’ve received thousands of comments, letters to the editor, guest commentaries and suggestions, and we would like to thank everyone for that. We do listen to what others have to say about our work here at The Daily Cougar.
As we seek to shed light on subjects that evoke strong opinions, we will examine and edit our use of irony and sarcasm so as not to confuse and cause distress to our readers.
We sincerely thank you for your continued feedback. Even if we don’t print everything, we guarantee that we read every piece of information that gets sent to us. We promise that we will continue to do our very best to serve our university, its students, faculty and staff.
Cougar Staff, stop defending your creed and just publish fair and balanced. This is the second or third editorial this semester that you felt the need to write in order to justify what you have published in the Opinion section. If you get some letters about a controversial opinion piece, publish them and go on about your day knowing that you covered both angles. We trust that you are not hate mongering and that you are being tasteful in your column selection.
I stopped reading the Daily Cougar last semester and only pick it up to check the first page for what’s going on around campus then I throw it away.