A Message to Our Readers About Coronavirus Coverage
One of online editor Sean Newhouse’s professors asked him on Jan. 27 how Flyer News would cover the coronavirus.
Sean scoffed, “Flyer News will never have to cover the coronavirus.”
The next day, Flyer News – Sean, specifically – reported that there were two possible cases of coronavirus at Miami University. A couple of days later, however, we reported that the tests came back negative.
We thought that was the end of it. We didn’t think we’d have to write a breaking news article last week headlined: “UD Shuts Down Housing, Cancels Classes Due to Coronavirus Fears.”
Right now, we’re living through an event that is going to be a paragraph, page or chapter of a future AP U.S. History textbook.
Based on the reaction to our reporting of the student response to the closure of university housing last Tuesday, Flyer News – and student journalism generally – has a role in how this story is going to be told. That story being – How does a university – dare we say community – exist without a campus?
This question will guide our coverage.
Even though most of us aren’t on campus, you can still expect Flyer News reporting. In fact, you’re probably going to get more of it.
– Articles that are still accurate from our last print issue will be posted to our website and shared on social media over the next two weeks. While it might seem odd to share stories that aren’t about the coronavirus, we want to recognize our writers’ work.
– On the right sidebar of our website, there will be a count updated almost daily of how many people around the world, in the U.S. and in Ohio have, and have died from, coronavirus. This is to emphasize that UD is a small part in this global crisis.
– Print editor Griffin Quinn intends to craft a print issue despite the circumstances. This will be shared for you to read as a PDF and eventually printed for archival purposes.
All articles will be available on our website. If you aren’t already, follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@FlyerNews) and Instagram (@flyernews). Also sign up for our newsletter that will be sent out as news happens.
Wash your hands and, among other things, don’t go out drinking. (Of course, you can’t go out drinking in Ohio or Illinois anymore.) These actions are meant to protect the most vulnerable among us, and you don’t need the Marianist values to know that these are the right things to do.
Lastly, remember that we can overcome this together. While we might not be in walking distance from our friends’ rooms, dorms, apartments or porches – our friends are only a phone call away.
Sean Newhouse Griffin Quinn
Online Editor-in-Chief Print Editor-in-Chief