2024-25 Editorial Board
About The Hornet Tribune Editorial Board
The Hornet Tribune Editorial Board offers the consolidated opinions of veteran members of The Hornet Tribune on topics relevant to Alabama State Univeersity. The Board generally publishes one to two editorials every week throughout the year.
Editorials are intended to serve as the jumping point, and not the conclusion, to discussion.
The board meets to discuss issues on campus and within the larger Alabama State University. Editorial positions are determined by majority vote and unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the board. The board operates separately from the newsroom.
The board stands behind the preservation of Alabama State University’s academic mission and believes that administration, at all levels, should be held accountable to students, faculty and staff. This includes, but is not limited to, state and county legislators as well as elected student officers.
The members of the board believe an independent, and accessible student press is critical to ensuring a well-informed student population.
As part of The Hornet Tribune’s commitment to its readers, the board hopes to present a responsible and clear analysis of relevant events and news items affecting the lives of those we serve. We encourage all readers to reach out to our board members and to respond to our editorials.
The Composition of the Board
Standing Members
is The Hornet Tribune editor-in-chief. He was previously the sports and intramurals editor for editorial and reportorial affairs, and a sports reporter/writer. He is a junior broadcast journalism major who hopes to work in the sports media field as a sports analyst. He has been an honor student since arriving at Alabama State University.
is The Hornet Tribune chief managing editor for editorial and reportorial affairs . She was previously the Lifestyles Editor for The Hornet Tribune and a senior reporter/writer for The Hornet Tribune. He is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism who hopes to work as an news anchor for a network news broadcast.
is The Hornet Tribune university news editor. She previously worked as a staff reporter/writer for The Hornet Tribune. She is a senior majoring in print journalism who hopes to work for a minority newspaper.
is The Hornet Tribune sports and intramurals editor. He previously worked as a staff reporter/writer for The Hornet Tribune. He is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism and hopes to work in the sports media field as a sports analyst or sports commentator.
How we Work
Editorial positions are determined by majority vote and unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the board. The board operates separately from the newsroom. The Editorial Board stands behind the preservation of Alabama State University’s academic mission and believes that the administration as well as student government, at all levels, should be held accountable to students, faculty and staff.
What exactly is an editorial? The simple answer is an unsigned article expressing the newspaper’s opinion on a matter of public interest. It’s the one place in the newspaper where The Hornet Tribune tells you what it thinks as an institution.
Speaking on the newspaper’s behalf is the editorial board, consisting of 11 members, with a variety of viewpoints and expertise. We meet once a week for an hour or so, bat around ideas and arguments, examine them for flaws, push them in new directions, (sometimes) discard them entirely and (ideally) mold them into coherence.
Board members interview sources much like our newsroom colleagues, though we aren’t as likely to use quotes. We go wherever our interests lead us, but we’re not entirely free to write whatever we want. The editorial board imposes a few institutional constraints, by design.
One is what is known in the law as stare decisis. Our past positions on any given topic help guide our present view.
The writing of editorials is a team effort; they aren’t columns reflecting any one person’s viewpoint. A member of the board (editors included) can’t write an editorial endorsing a position in the absence of consensus among the group. That is not to say we are a full democracy. Editors have a bigger say, especially in wielding a veto.
We don’t expect you to always agree with our opinion, but we do hope to earn your respect.
The members of the editorial board believe an independent and accessible student press is critical to ensuring a well-informed student population.
As part of The Hornet Tribune’s commitment to its readers, the board hopes to present a responsible and clear analysis of relevant events and news items affecting the lives of those we serve. We encourage all readers to reach out to our board members and to respond to our editorials.
