Putting a Spotlight on the Truth

“Will They Overcome? The Struggle for Press Freedom
Continues at Black Colleges,” Aug. 10

Putting a Spotlight on the Truth

As the former editor in chief and current editor at large of the Spelman Spotlight, I was shocked to see the disregard of a true, accurate account of Yvonne Prabhu’s experience on the Spotlight staff. I feel that the story was one-sided and did not in any way reflect Ms. Prabhu’s true contribution to our newspaper, nor did it reflect our newspaper in a positive light. For an article to attempt to explore college journalism on Black campuses, I feel that it would have been obvious to contact current campus journalists, not disgruntled former members who quit after a year and a half. Had this article explored both sides of the story, one would have discovered that Ms. Prabhu was never in any way asked to leave the Spelman Spotlight, even in light of our many disagreements. Rather, Ms. Prabhu formally resigned from her position in December 2005 after more than a year (not months, as indicated in your article) of service for reasons that had nothing to do with the critique that we received. In fact, many of the suggestions that were made during that critique have been implemented in our planning and production processes, and have helped our paper thrive on campus.

— Shayla Ball
Spelman College

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