David Lei | Different perspectives

As the semester winds down, I want to take this opportunity to reflect on how we've been doing and to answer some concerns recently brought up by readers.

Looking ahead to the fall, we will continue to encourage greater reader participation.

We really do appreciate it when readers get in touch with us, especially to offer an opposing point of view. And I feel it could happen more often. But that dialogue has to start somewhere.

News

The DP's news editors and writers have faced a unique set of challenges this semester.

Along with the six-week media circus that was the Pennsylvania primary, we've also examined key areas of interest such as financial aid, Penn's eastward expansion and campus sustainability efforts.

At the same time, we're committed to better covering activities that many students are involved in but that have not always been considered "newsworthy" before. You should expect to see more coverage of student groups moving forward.

Opinion

An ongoing source of confusion for readers is the role of our Opinion Page. Readers often express concern about the possibility of bias in our coverage because of stances we take in editorials.

I cannot stress enough that, like any newspaper, we maintain a strict separation between news and opinion. What's published on this page does not influence news coverage.

And the Opinion Page doesn't exist solely for us to voice our own positions - I'm very pleased with the high number of letters to the editor and guest columns we've received.

If you feel strongly about an issue of importance in the Penn community or any aspect of coverage, put your thoughts into words and contact us. We'll do our best to publish them.

Sports

This semester, we have heard a number of complaints about the tone of our sports coverage. Many athletes would like us to cover their teams more favorably.

Yet our job is not to report favorably but objectively. If a team does well, we will cover that success. If it does poorly, then we'll cover that, too.

This newspaper does not gloss over issues of concern to its community. In fact, we push our writers to examine important trends on Penn teams and in collegiate sports, be it financial aid in athletics or issues of attrition on a sports team.

This was the case with the recent article "Saving Swimming from itself" (DP, 4/24/08).

Though we have received some negative response to the piece, we stand by it firmly.

The article was the culmination of months of investigative reporting that initially began as an exploration into attrition problems with Penn sports teams.

We felt the piece successfully portrayed the unique difficulties that have confronted the men's swimming team over the last few years.

That said, I value the feedback we receive from readers. And while we may not always agree, I can assure you we're always listening.

David Lei is a Wharton sophomore from Brooklyn, N.Y. and executive editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. His e-mail is lei@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.