From the Editors: Those in or running for public office need to speak to the media

Though I’ve only been doing this for two years, I have already developed a habit of being extremely bothered when I don’t get responses to interview requests. The more damaging that refusing to respond is to the interviewee, the more confused I get.
It’s one thing during the Canadian federal election, when my coworkers and I were able to secure interviews from all riding candidates except the Conservatives. This frustrated me to no end, as I wanted to get even coverage of everyone. I was even more bothered by what their reasoning for not talking could have been. By talking to The Runner, they might have been able to possibly sway enough students to get a few more seats on election night.

This has also been seen recently in the American election. The Trump campaign has revoked press access from The Washington Post for asking too many hard questions. Not only this, but the rhetoric espoused by him has led The New York Times to re-work their policies on using the word “lie” in an article.

We’ve also seen an adjustment by other media outlets on how aggressively they have started pressing politicians, and for the better. When Trump says that he’s going to build a wall along the Mexican border, journalists need to ask: “How much will it cost? How will it be done? How can Mexico pay for it?” Sometimes this means actually interviewing those in Mexican government and finding out if it’s possible, laughable as it may seem. Sometimes this means talking to leading architects and finding out how much the operation would cost.

This applies to journalists everywhere, even those covering student politics. When someone makes a bold claim, we need to contest and evaluate it.

It should first be said, though, that generally speaking, we tend to get our interview requests met when we need them. Executive tends to be very good about this—even when we run negative stories—and some councilors are generally eager to speak with us.

However, it’s extremely puzzling when those running for office refuse to speak to us. Sometimes they get away with it, namely when a candidate is running in an uncontested position and has a sufficient number of friends to get them elected. It’s easy when voter turnout barely passes 400. It barely made 100 in the recent By-Election.

Current KSA councilors have told me that those running for the positions simply want to get into student politics and make a difference. That’s all well and good. I’m sure Hillary Clinton hates campaigning for months on end, not actually able to do her job of governing. But in the case of the KSA, we as students need to speak to councillors so that we can figure out who they are, so that voters can make an informed choice on who to vote for. We need to know what they plan to do in office beyond the vagueness of their 100-word statement. We need to know what their plans are so that we can hold them accountable later.

It’s even more confusing when you run for a position that’s contested, but still choose not to speak to us. Again, if two people are running, it’s generally easier to vote for the person you know something about.