Megan Bakker, who wrote The Collegian’s latest Stacy Johnson-Klein article, talks of the difficulties a reporter faces when covering a controversial subject.

Most of the time, it is held that the best place for a reporter to stand is in the middle. But “in the middle” doesn’t really mean the middle of the fray, in the mess, in the mud. No, when a reporter is described as “in the middle,” usually they are standing outside of the event. An objective observer, basically. The reporter does not have an opinion; does not support one side or another. The reporter, ideally, should not feel; should just record.

This is very far from the truth. I believe not feeling anything leads to apathetic coverage. I think the best place for the reporter is, in fact, in the mud. It’s only when I’m conflicted about a story that I dig deep, consider the hard questions and am willing to listen to everyone but still be skeptical, because I’m just not sure.

While our latest coverage of Stacy Johnson-Klein, and now Margie Wright and Iris Levesque, has so far been summary of past reports with only a little new information, it’s already raised a lot of issues that I have to wrestle with.

Basically, I am in denial.

I do not want to think that Fresno State has these kinds of massive problems or that discrimination still runs this deep and this strong. I do not want to think that it could affect an entire department and leave echoes for years after the first problems. But if it doesn’t have these problems, then what does that make the women who are complaining about them? Liars? Greedy? No, that can’t be right, either. I don’t even feel comfortable typing that here, because if it’s not right, then that’s a really, really horrible thing to accuse someone of.

It’s also horrible to accuse someone of discrimination when they haven’t committed it.

And so I’ve gone around and around and dug deeper into the mud, trying to find a place to stand that’s fair to both sides. It’s even harder on controversial issues, because everyone, even those not directly involved, start forming opinions on what the truth is. And they (meaning you) will all start evaluating where I’m standing, yelling “Over here!” or “No, just to the left a bit!” like it’s some surreal game of Red Rover with dozens of different sides to run to. It’s exciting and at the same time exhausting, and if you think I’m complaining, I’ve adopted the wrong tone.

Because this issue will not go away, I’ll have to ask some pretty hard questions of the people involved, of the people watching from the sidelines and of myself over the course of the semester. It’s far from neat, clear-cut and dispassionate, even when the writing is.

I hope, above all else, I am honest.