The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Putting out my public editor candle

One day last spring, the DAILY EGYPTIAN's future editor-in-chief, Moustafa Ayad, suggested our student-run publication institute a public editor. For those unaware of what a public editor is, a quick definition is "a newspaper's liaison to its readers and a sort of 'ethical guardian,' if you will, of a paper's credibility."

Of course, when Moustafa first approached me about the idea, I barely knew what a public editor was - let alone did I have any intention of being the first to hold the position at the DAILY EGYPTIAN. After all, few - if any - college newspapers had a public editor at the time, and I figured the best choice probably wasn't a reporter who could only muster a C in his journalism ethics class.

But Moustafa persisted, and now here I am, more than six months - and several colorful incidents - later, stepping down as this paper's inaugural public editor. This column is my way of saying goodbye, for all those who actually read this column when it appears, well, whenever it actually does appear. That's not to say I haven't enjoyed the ride, even if it has been riddled with ups and downs. The ups were simple: just doing the job right. The downs? That's where it gets a little tricky.

Journalists, by nature, are a stubborn and cynical bunch. This means we seldom admit when we're wrong, and if we do admit it, you can be sure we're going to divert attention from it by any means necessary. And, boy, did I ever make a few errors.

Where to begin? There was the time I unfairly compared a reporter's inaccuracy to a major front-page error in the New York Times. Or the time I left out critical information in a column regarding the dismissal of an employee (he later threatened a lawsuit). Or, perhaps most regrettably, this entire semester, when I wrongly assumed I could continue to do this job from St. Louis while completing an internship.

I've come to find that a public editor should keep a safe distance from the newsroom, but he or she should not be completely divorced from it. I have been divorced from the DAILY EGYPTIAN since the end of August. For that I apologize - to our readers and my colleagues at the paper. As some of you may know, I had the good fortune of receiving a monthlong vacation from said internship, thanks in large part to the three gunshot wounds I suffered one late September night.

It was an interesting month, to say the least, and the last thing on my mind at the time was fulfilling my duties as public editor. Maybe it's not that big of a deal. Most of my friends who don't work at the paper still don't know what a public editor is. Most readers looking in on the field of journalism couldn't emote less over ethics.

But I guess I'm just not that way. This newspaper, as anyone who works here for more than a semester will tell you, almost becomes a part of you. Sometimes it feels like a stubborn leach, draining your time and energy. Other times, when a story is breaking and the newsroom is abuzz, it's hard to make yourself leave.

I'm glad I'm not leaving that atmosphere just yet. I'll still be here for one more semester, but it's up to someone else to take the reigns of public editor. Not that I don't want to do the job, I just think someone else can do the job better. And anyway, holding this position for six months has been honor enough in its own right. Not bad for a guy who barely passed journalism ethics.

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