Pretty Smart

Thoughts on being beautiful, gullible and good, most of all.

what we’re biting

grey: For the past few weeks, I’ve been working on an article about drink spiking and access to drug testing across Ivy League schools. I collected stories from dozens of students. But I was told by an editor that the piece would not be published, unless I found a student who had received a positive test for a date rape drug. This would be a challenge, given the problem I am reporting on is precisely a lack of access to testing. Eventually, I interviewed a student who had received a positive test—and when she told me this, I was reminded of Luke Mogelson, who wrote that journalists “are actively, aggressively seeking to see with our own eyes the reality of war, famine, disaster, and who isn’t at least somewhat gratified when he discovers what he’s sought, at least somewhat disappointed when he doesn’t?” He concluded these problems can be eclipsed by a faith in the importance of a “certain kind of record.”

I helped Lila edit a paper on extractivist environmental policy in Brazil this morning. And I’m wondering whether journalism is an extractive industry by nature, and if the “certain kind of record” is worth that extraction. I’m going to set boundaries for this article like using nicknames/middle names for the students quoted, but I know those sorts of decisions won’t always be mine to make. I’m biting about guardrails to ensure ethical storytelling, and I’m committing to routine reflection as long as I plan (to try) to tell them.