Balance. Call it objectivity, call it fairness if you prefer, it 's every journalist's mantra. To some degree, it's an unrealistic one--even the fairest of reporters have a touch of bias that they cannot recognize, much less remove from their writing--but it's nonetheless a goal worth pursuing.
Balance isn't a virtue only for journalists. The Greeks made much of sophrosyne, the idea that one should strive for moderation in all things, and balance one's life so that it contains nothing in excess.
Taken by itself, that concept admittedly runs into a logical contradiction or two; it is rather immoderate to try to be moderate all the time, for one thing. But in general, it's still a good rule; in most human activity, the "golden mean" is a nicer place to be than either of the extremes it falls between.
TowerView stories always have a tendency to deal with questions of where, or whether, the middle way between two conflicting ideas exists--after all, a news perspective magazine that provides only one perspective is a pretty boring read.
But with this issue in particular, the theme of balance comes front and center, albeit on a number of different levels. The cover story examines the balance between socioeconomically divided segments of the Duke student body. Meanwhile, we take a look at the way the future Blue Devils of high school basketball--and others like them--balance the pressures of big-time athletics with normal high school life. We also have a first-hand report on the situation in Israel, where any failure to balance the security of Israeli citizens with the need to reach out to moderate Palestinians can only lead to further violence--despite the fact that no one knows if such a balance is even possible.
Add into the mix a look at the University's frequent mentions in the news media and a reflection on how the changing face of fraternity life at Duke is affecting minority greek organizations, and you've got what we hope is an array of balanced articles that you'll enjoy reading.
That is, at least in moderation.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.