Bylines and Bygones

I was a newly minted associate news editor on Spec when I received the first nasty e-mail about a story I had written.

She called my article "totally one-sided" and "an example of poor journalism" because I hadn't talked to her. As it turned out, the woman had forgotten to check the multiple messages I'd left on her ROLM phone, cell phone, and e-mail pleading for an interview, but the 100 plus people on our alias-all of whom received her letter-didn't know that.

When her e-mail came through, I was at a fencing tournament that weekend without e-mail access, so I didn't see the message until two days later, after everyone on the staff had already read it. But I didn't have time to be mortified before I saw the next message in my inbox. Knowing I was out of town, my editor had written back defending me to the woman and the entire alias. The first paragraph consisted of five words: "I stand by Megan's story."

It's an axiom among news reporters that the best editors are the ones who stand up for their reporters. Polls routinely show that journalists are some of the least-trusted people in America, so the nasty e­-mails from readers never stop, but few professional gestures are kinder than your boss going to bat for you. The moment I saw that second e-mail, I decided I wanted to be an editor so I could repay the favor. After two years on the managing board, I hope I did.

I think standing up for reporters is especially important at a college newspaper, where people routinely make mistakes. I've never pretended Spec is perfect journalism. The news desk that I spent the last four years working for has misquoted people, misjudged news, and made a myriad of other mistakes. But more often we've gotten the scoop or gotten to the bottom of something, and that's something I'm proud of. I've had the privilege of working with a few hundred brilliant students over the past four years, and I honestly can't believe it's over.

People constantly marvel at how Speccies balance a full-time job with a full course load, or why we would do it voluntarily. As Max Frankel, the former executive editor of the New York Times and one of our most devoted alumni, put it in his memoir, "I reported for duty at the Spectator a full week before the start of classes, an order of priority that remained immutable for four fateful years." Like Max, I've gotten more deadline extensions than I can count, and my GPA leaves something to be desired. But the daily miracle that putting out a newspaper requires is both inspirational and addictive, and when somebody stood up for me it made me work even harder to earn the support.

Last week I saw one of the current editors-someone who used to work for me as a reporter-stand up for a member of the staff that is now his. When someone two years his senior, someone in a position of power, accused one of Spec's best writers of misquoting him, the editor went to bat for his reporter. If I had any impact on that editor or anyone else on Spectator, I hope I made them a little bit more willing to stand up for each other.

For me, Spec has never been primarily about the bylines or the newspaper itself. It's been about the people who have stood up for me and who I've stood up for; the people who made me want to be a professional reporter and who have inspired me every day for the last four years. As a newswriter, Telis and Ben and Koi and Nick and James and Matt and Maggie stood up for me more times than I can count. Ciel and Theo and Morgan and I were together nearly every step of the way. Now it's up to Steve, Tim, Tanveer, Jimmy, Owen, and all the rest to continue standing up for Spec newsies, no matter who challenges them.

Upon learning that I was heading from Spec to the Washington Post, Max Frankel gave me a bear hug, then looked at me sternly.

"You'll get great experience there," he said. "But you'd better enjoy your last semester first, and don't expect too much once you leave. It won't be anywhere near as good as Spec was." It'll be another month before I get my first byline as a Post staff writer, but I already know that Max was right.

Around the newsroom, we tend to focus on the problems. It's inevitable, I suppose, when there are fires to be put out every moment of every day. So it's taken me until these bittersweet final days of my Spectator career to realize what I'll be losing when I leave this grimy office for the last time.

Thanks for everything, guys. I can't tell you how proud I am to have been part of it.

The author is a Barnard College senior double-majoring in religion and American studies. She was the news editor on Spectator's 128th managing board and the editor-in-chief on the 129th managing board.