| by Will Reichel PART ONE of THREE: A Natural Target Alex Trebek watches over the newsroom of The Daily Northwestern. He has that familiar, superior glint in his eye. That same tangible sense of syndicated pomposity. It may just be an autographed picture posted on the wall, but nonetheless, Mr. Trebek is there. Watching. At Northwestern, the Daily holds a Trebekian top-spot in the game of campus journalism. It takes hard work to stay on top, and the energy and commitment of the staff is formidable. Like Mr. Trebek, the Daily is a fixture as a purveyor of information. And five days a week, the newsstand is stacked with the tangible results. Beyond the Northwestern soundstage, the Daily has long been considered one of the top college newspapers in the country. And so the spotlight burns brightly. But sometimes it just burns. Tune your ear to the whispers that float along the lakeshore, to the voices that tell tales of a campus and its newspaper. They float accusations of biased coverage, out-of-touch reporters, and antagonistic articles. The Daily may be “by the students,” but for many, the Daily is not for them. As Northwestern’s journalistic goliath, the Daily is a natural target for students’ slingshots. “Students are paying 140 grand to have opinions, and they direct those opinions at institutions,” suggests Matt Palmquist, a Medill senior and the Daily’s Editor in Chief. And Managing Editor Denis Theriault notes that the Daily is bound to get its share of the heat: “It’s the same thing with any student group. We’re a little more visible, a little more high profile because we’re on the newsstand every day.” In its newsprint spotlight, the Daily also stands out as a target. The Daily staff is well acquainted with the snowball-effect of student criticism.“People like to jump on the Daily-bashing bandwagon,” claims Theriault. "Plenty of times we make mistakes and there are legitimate gripes, but a lot of it is just silliness.” The editors also note that students only make up a portion of their readership. There are also faculty members, administrators, Evanston residents, alumni, and parents to consider. But the Bandwagon Defense, while valid in certain cases, overshadows many of the “legitimate gripes” voiced by members of the NU community. One common negative opinion claims that the Daily is too, um, negative. Many student leaders acknowledge ample coverage of disputes between campus groups. But the Daily seems less attentive to many positive programs and cooperative efforts. Xelena Gonzalez, a Medill Senior, has interacted with the Daily as the former head of Alianza, a current member of the Mezcla Exec Board, and as a Daily columnist. “I can’t say I’m thrilled about the coverage the daily pays to my organizations,” Gonzalez says. “They either ignore our important programming completely, or they run the same vapid story on the front page about how some minority group is pissed off about something again.” Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, Mary Desler, also wonders about the Daily’s leanings toward conflict. “I think to a Daily reporter, ‘news’ equals a negative or controversial ‘story.’ Where were they [on a recent night], for example, when representatives from four student groups met at the Multicultural Center for dinner? It was an absolutely positive story.” The criticisms conjure impressions of the “If it bleeds, it leads” approach, a plan of attack that is as popular as ever in contemporary media. These accusations can create an adversarial tone and a vicious circle between the staff and the readers. It’s a circle of strife, and it moves us all. On to PART TWO of THREE: Varying Perceptions >> "The tendency to sensationalize certain issues or events is often linked to these accusations of negative bias ..." | 
