The Cadet Written by Cadets

Despite repeated oral and written statements, to include editorials in The Cadet that Cadets have full editorial control of our newspaper, the media, in its challenges to The Cadet winning a number of Virginia Press Association (VPA) awards, continued to promote these allegations. In its reporting, Cardinal News made repeated references alleging the VMI administrations if Cadets have editorial control. In one, the Cardinal News reporter quotes an unidentified source in the administration as stating, "VMI has offered to give The Cadet club status, but only if the Cadet in charge certifies students have full editorial control and a faculty adviser, according to a spokesperson there." In another, the same reporter wrote that COL Wyatt, VMI Director of Communications, "has also expressed concern about whether students on the newspaper staff are truly independent of alumni influence. The college has stated that it doesn't wish to control the student group but cannot grant its staff extra time in Cadets' highly regimented schedules to work on the paper unless it can verify the students have editorial independence." In still another instance, the same reporter quotes another unidentified VMI administration source as stating, "VMI, meanwhile, has said it doesn't want any editorial say in the newspaper but has concerns that Morris has launched the paper to benefit his own agenda." Several official statements by VMI call the accuracy of this reporting into question. COL Wyatt's response to a question from The Cadet, "You made several comments to the media that VMI will only recognize The Cadet if Cadets certify they are solely writing the articles and have full editorial control" directly refutes Cardinal News reporting he made these statements or ever suggested Cadets do not write the articles. In response to the question, COL Wyatt firmly denied he ever suggested that Cadets did not, or do not write the articles, "My comments to the media were that the Cadets have been offered an MOU that requires them to certify they have full editorial control of the paper. My comments further stated the MOU remains unsigned. I have no idea who writes the articles that appear under a generic byline and have never suggested they weren't written by a Cadet."[emphasis added] When asked directly by The Cadet, "In your official opinion, do Cadets write and have editorial control over The Cadet?" COL Wyatt responded, "I do not have any insight into the editorial process of The Cadet newspaper." When The Cadet, through COL Wyatt, posed a similar question directly to Maj. Gen. Wins, "In your opinion: do Cadets write and have editorial control over The Cadet? Why or why not?" Maj. Gen. Wins responded, "I have no insight into The Cadet's editorial process. As the superintendent of VMI, I have not had any conversation with any Cadets about The Cadet newspaper's editorial process nor about who actually has editorial control of the newspaper. I would welcome the opportunity to have such a discussion with The Cadet editors of the newspaper." This meeting came to fruition last week where the editors of The Cadet sat down with MG Wins and members of his staff and laid the groundwork for future interactions in the hope that mutual cooperation will be reached in due time. In an October 2021 video call with the assistant attorney general representing VMI, Mr. Patrick O'Leary, 2021 – 2022, Editor-in-Chief, and now 2LT, James Mansfield, the Editor-in-Chief and former Cadet Joe Malazo, Managing Editor at the time, told Mr. O'Leary repeatedly Cadets have full editorial control of The Cadet. COL Wyatt, himself, is on the record accepting Cadets run the newspaper and has been since 2022. In response to a request for a meeting with COL Wyatt and The Cadet Editors at the time, Mansfield placed a condition on the staff's initial meeting with Wyatt. "We do however require a salutary recognition that the people you emailed," asserted Mansfield, "those being myself, Ms. Curtis, and Mr. Malazo do represent and lead The Cadet. If we are to meet under the false pretext that The Cadet is administered or run by anyone outside of Barracks, then nothing productive will come out of this meeting." COL Wyatt responded by fully accepting The Cadet is run by Cadets who have complete control stating, "… I recognize the work and leadership you have put into the paper. If you say the newspaper is Cadet run now, I believe you." [emphasis added] The fact MG Wins was personally assured Cadets have editorial control of the newspaper comes from 2LT James Mansfield's personal account of his April 25, 2022 meeting with Maj. Gen. Wins, COL Wyatt and COL Bogart. According to Mansfield's account of the meeting, documented immediately after for the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), "Maj. Gen. Wins stated I was in his office that day 'about the newspaper'," and,"It was my impression from his tone and demeanor the Superintendent was insinuating that if I did not comply, I could be brought in for disciplinary action. I also inferred from the Superintendent's statements, tone and demeanor that he was making me aware he had the power of disciplinary action over me." Despite the situation he was placed in and the Superintendent's actions, Cadet Mansfield told Fire, SPLC and The Cadet, "I personally, and repeatedly, reaffirmed to Maj. Gen. Wins, and the others present, that Cadets had full editorial control of The Cadet and that Cadets write the articles published without influence. I also repeatedly affirmed the editors are the ones making all editorial decisions. These were the same statements my roommate at the time, and Managing Editor, Cadet Malazo made repeatedly to Mr. Patrick O'Leary, VMI's legal counsel in our October 8, 2022 video call with him." Maj. Gen. Wins, and his staff, were told repeatedly by Cadets that we have editorial control of The Cadet and write the articles. Unfortunately, because 2LT Mansfield was ordered by the Commandant not to take his cell phone to the meeting and Maj. Gen. Wins specifically forbade him from recording the meeting, the account could only be documented after the fact. These appear to refute the published statements in the Cardinal News articles. The next issue raised by both the Washington Post and Cardinal News, that they imply VMI's leadership supports, is that articles with "The Cadet Staff" and/or "The Cadet Editorial Staff" bylines are not written by Cadets. Use of the "anonymous bylines" such as "The Cadet Staff" or "The Cadet Editorial Staff" is a proud tradition for The Cadet. Similar "by the staff" bylines were, for many years, common practice among the best publications and remains so today for some of the most highly regarded ones. Perhaps the best articulation of this comes from an editorial on the subject in The Economist: But having started off as a way for one person to give the impression of being many, anonymity has since come to serve the opposite function at The Economist: it allows many writers to speak with a collective voice. Leaders are discussed and debated each week in meetings that are open to all members of the editorial staff. Journalists often co-operate on articles. And some articles are heavily edited. Accordingly, articles are often the work of The Economist 's hive mind, rather than of a single author. This is precisely how The Cadet has, and continues to operate. All staff are welcome to contribute and learn. There is no "pride in ownership" or quest for individual glory holding us back. The Brother Rat and Class ethos of all working together for the best of VMI and the group is in all we do. Again, quoting The Economist: The main reason for anonymity, however, is a belief that what is written is more important than who writes it. In the words of Geoffrey Crowther, our editor from 1938 to 1956, anonymity keeps the editor 'not the master but the servant of something far greater than himself…it gives to the paper an astonishing momentum of thought and principle'… But print articles are otherwise anonymous. National Public Radio in their publications take a similar approach. As written on behalf of NPR in his Opinion piece, Edward Schumacher-Matos put it this way: "I am not sure what is 'non-NPR' about that. There was a time, in fact, that bylines were rare in most of American journalism, awarded only when a reporter's input was truly special. But I may be showing my age here. In this era of promoting self-esteem, if not self-aggrandizement, bylines appear on the slightest of stories." Despite the adverse actions attempting to discredit us and our work that The Cadet endured from a few in the media and some in the Institute's own administration, no individual Cadet won the Virginia Press Association's Award for Journalistic Integrity and Community Service. Collectively, the staff of The Cadet, spanning two academic years, completed the work recognized by the award. We shared the work, and as evidenced by the attacks initiated, and perpetuated by the Institutes' own administration, working with some we looked upon as colleagues in the media. We, collectively, endured the pain and challenge of our efforts to give voices to the voiceless. We remain, as inscribed on the parapet, "a crowd of honorable youths," and we work together as a staff, much as we endured the Ratline to come together as a Class, with the single goal of producing a product worthy of collective, not individual, praise. We do not expect those inside or outside the Institute who either never shared, nor embrace, the VMI experience and our Code of Honor to understand or appreciate this. We simply ask they respect it. The by-line is also about accountability for the story. We, as Cadets, by that same VMI ethos, are all accountable for what is published in OUR newspaper. We do not shirk responsibility or blame others. The Washington Post and Cardinal News reporting on The Cadet's operations also implied some nefarious intent for The Cadet's "no byline" policy on editorials written by our Editorial Board. Most other newspapers have the same policy, including the Washington Post. The editorial board and opinion section staff are independent of the news-gathering side of our organization. Through our staff-written editorials, The Cadet takes positions on important issues affecting the Coprs as other newspapers do. The editorials are unsigned because, while written by one or more members of our staff, they represent the point of view of the Cadets who have editorial control of The Cadet's content. It is also completely proper for The Cadet to offer anonymity in certain circumstances, such as to protect cadets, faculty and others from retaliation by the administration or attacks by the media such as those in recent Washington Post and Cardinal News reporting. Especially when that reporting receives cooperation from and support by the VMI administration. Over The Cadet's history, a number of writers and editors lost their positions, and some even their Regular Army commissions, at the hands of administrators for what they wrote. The Cadet's policies were developed with, and reviewed by, professional Journalists, the SPLC and FIRE. They comply with standard journalistic ethics and standards. We stand by these policies and protections. The Cadet will ALWAYS protect those with the courage to speak truth to power. A number of Cardinal News articles advancing the investigation into The Cadet winning the Journalistic Integrity and Community Service Award seemed to both imply impropriety on the part of The Cadet staff and, support allegations by the VMI Director of Communications, that alumni, not Cadets, write the articles. As quoted in one of The Cardinal articles, "Of the 15 articles judged, 10 were written wholly or in part by unnamed parties, including several by 'The Cadet Editorial Staff.' That same article does not disclose that of the 25 articles in Cardinal News' submission for the same Journalistic Integrity and Community Service Award 3 articles were under the byline "Cardinal Staff". For comparison, a keyword search for articles written by "The Cardinal Staff" on their website revealed approximately 310 articles with a "by Cardinal Staff" byline published by Cardinal News during the period 3 January through 31 August 2023. One of those stories under the Cardinal staff byline covered the 2022 Virginia Press Association awards won in various categories by the publication. The Cardinal also competed for the 2022 VPA Award for Journalistic Integrity and Community Service but lost in that competition to The Cadet.