On Sept. 14, 2018, at about 6 p.m., I received a rather discouraging and stressful 366-word letter in what’s become a bit of a watershed moment for me:

Dear Messrs. Dooling and Ogozalek and Ms. Harford …

A lawyer wanted The D.O. to remove, from its site and YouTube account, footage showing a brother of Syracuse University’s Zeta Beta Tau fraternity chapter spitting on a “potential member.”

If The D.O. didn’t comply, “injunctive relief in court” was a possibility, wrote the Times Square-based lawyer, who was representing the family of a student in the recording.

The video — anonymously submitted to The D.O. — helped us break  “Video surfaces showing behavior that led to Zeta Beta Tau fraternity’s disciplinary probation, SU official confirms.” 

After consulting Mike Grygiel, of Greenberg Traurig LLP, The D.O. declined to take down the footage from dailyorange.com and YouTube on Sept. 17, 2018. (Grygiel is The D.O.’s litigation counsel.) The video was the story.

We didn’t go to court. No injunction was brought against the newspaper. Tens of thousands of people read our article, written by then-News Editor Jordan Muller.

Time passed quickly, and it was on to the next A1. The next hotel to book for football coverage.

Yet Muller’s story stuck with me.

The Sept. 14, 2018 letter, and the reporting itself, proved to me that “freedom of the press” isn’t some vague, textbook concept codified and argued over in distant courts.

“Freedom of the press,” rather, entrusts us all to carefully weigh the ethical responsibilities of publication, palms sweaty and eyes tired from hours of line editing — working to get it right. 

In other words, it’s something very real. Truly misunderstood, until it smashes you in the face. It’s something I’m proud The D.O. upholds and takes so seriously.

Despite sweeping changes to the news industry, market instability and a disturbing mistrust of journalists across the United States, The D.O. continues to protect this fundamental right to knowledge. (As proof by Muller’s story.)

We fight day in and day out to provide our readers vital information reported by no other news organization.

As editor-in-chief, it’s been an honor helping safeguard that mission for decades to come.

Sam Ogozalek (’20) was the 2018-19 editor-in-chief of The Daily Orange. He is now the newspaper’s special projects editor. He can be reached at (607) 386-3174.

Published on June 29, 2019 at 7:27 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek