Good afternoon. I hope this email finds you well.
I am writing to express my concerns regarding The Banner. As not only a member of The Banner, but an active student leader, I feel compelled to reach out. I have been a member of The Banner staff for more than a year. I also served as a Senator for Student Government, as a board member for both Auxiliary Services and CSI Association and a member of the Transportation Taskforce last year and was re-elected in the spring.
The first concern that I would like to raise is the article that was published regarding the CSI ferry shuttle. That article has been removed from the website now but was shared by SI Live. This is concerning because of the inaccuracies in the article as well as the spelling and grammatical errors that were persistent throughout the article.
Secondly, the first episode of the Breaking the Banner podcast. I felt that the way that I was referred to was inappropriate. “Well, who’s Regina?”, and “There’s a lot of commentary that can be made about that student.” was very upsetting for me to hear. I felt that referencing me in this way was dismissive, unprofessional, and harmful to my reputation.
Additionally, the podcast contained false information both about Student Government and the transportation services, showed that the hosts were not familiar with the issue that they were discussing, and inaccurately reflected the motivations for the referendum. I felt angry at having my name associated with the remarks made.
The last concern that I would like to bring up is the publication of an article that I wrote, “The MTA is Failing Staten Island”, without attribution. (https://thebannercsi.wpcomstaging.com/2024/10/22/the-mta-is-failing-staten-island/) I feel slighted by this omission as other articles on the website contain student names in the byline.
I would like to urge our editorial team to attribute the article that I wrote with a byline, implement more rigorous fact-checking, and remove the podcast. I would also urge that a staff member be assigned to cover Student Government meetings, College Council, and Transportaion Taskforce meetings if this is a topic that The Banner wishes to cover.
As someone that is highly involved in student life and leadership, I feel that it is crucial that The Banner maintain high standards of accuracy, journalistic integrity, as well as proper attribution. I feel that readers of The Banner deserve to be able to have trust in the articles published.
I am committed to addresssing the transportation challenges that our campus community faces. These issues significantly impact our community, and I feel that it is important to discuss them as accurately as possible. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss these matters and work collaboratively.
Thank you,
Regina Minaya
“Every adventure requires a first step.”
(The Cheshire Cat in American McGee’s Alice)
