Dear readers,
Sixty years ago, in The Chronicle's 44th volume, Editor Clay Felker wrote that a news story's greatest attribute was accuracy.
Before the whiz-bang!s he drew from Tom Wolfe's pen, before the stories he wove into New York Magazine, he was on this campus, considering the weight of each word put into newsprint and assuring it was worth the paper on which it was printed.
Felker taught reporters to question suppositions and insist that letters were clearly indicated, down to each name and point of punctuation.
To get it almost right was-and is-unacceptable.
Felker could write, measuring the ink for each story told symphonically, like a carillon of copy. But wanting this paper to do more than simply showcase fine writing, Felker urged The Chronicle to watch.
For features.
For pictures.
For names.
"The eyes and the mind must see correctly before you can write correctly," he wrote on page three of The Chronicle's 1948 staff manual, just after the journalist's creed.
More than half a century later, our staff is still faithful to Felker's standards: We recognize the significance of your statements and treasure your confidence.
On this volume's staff, there are worshippers of words, disciples of diction and those who delight in the right turn of phrase.
After all, it was Felker who once penned a lede about Duke's football team that perhaps no one here has topped: "Like Harlem dice, Duke's loaded."
To be sure, each sentence he crafted and copy-edited was also loaded with meaning, and in the name of Felker, who nurtured our newspaper into the record for campus thought and action, accuracy will always be the most prized part of our publication.
Though on any given day we'll certainly budget a mouthful, there will always be space here for your dialogue.
So send a letter to the editor. Give us a call. Come up to 301 Flowers.
In the meantime, we hope this issue, weighted down with our words, sparks some of your own.
Flip to Sportswrap to see how Mike Krzyzewski's Olympic stint will translate to building the Duke brand at home and abroad.
Pull out Towerview, The Chronicle's monthly magazine, for the word on what to look for in the coming year, kicking off its 10th anniversary edition with everything from an Abu Dhabi dateline to the first post-Kennedy operation interview with Dr. Allan Friedman.
Curl up with recess, our weekly arts and entertainment section, to unwind with exclusives from the American Dance Festival, celebrating its 75th year, and music and movie reviews.
And don't forget to check back with our Web site, www.dukechronicle.com, for frequent news updates and blog posts.
We want The Chronicle to be more than just words, for the arches of letters to buttress truths and challenge them. In The Chronicle's 104th volume, we're striving to get it right-to cradle your candor into each crisp cut of copy.
Let us know what you think.
We'll be watching.
Chelsea Allison is a Trinity junior and editor of The Chronicle. Reach her at rca7@duke.edu or 919-684-2663.
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