NDToday doesn't endorse ticket
By HELENA PAYNE
Assistant News Editor
NDToday.com, the online media source for Notre Dame students, will have to cover this year's student government elections differently, according to the site's president Scott Palko.
The reason for the change is Palko himself. He's running for student body president along with fellow junior P.J. Mercanti.
"We are going to alter our coverage," said Palko. "NDToday will not be serving an endorsement this year."
Palko said he and the site's owner Frank Helgesen have discussed the consequences of endorsing a candidate and decided to "equal the playing field" by not endorsing anybody. Palko added that Helgesen, a 2001 Notre Dame graduate, could offer his own endorsement or student government election coverage if he chose to do so.
"The ultimate decision is [up to] Frank," said Palko. "He still has considered offering something."
The two NDToday.com executives have been in conversation since Palko decided to run, but they have focused on different aspects of the possible conflict of interest.
"[Helgesen's] concern is more content. He wants to offer students content that is pertinent to them," said Palko. "My concern is that I don't want to abuse the situation and just take advantage of NDToday."
Originally, Palko said the Web site was going to have an endorsement as it did for last year's election, but he decided it could be unfair.
"It's obviously an enormous resource to have at your disposal," Palko said.
Palko's position on NDToday.com does not violate any Judicial Council rules although it originally raised some concerns among candidates, said John McCarthy, vice president of elections.
"I've looked over NDToday and there's really nothing specific for or against [Palko]," McCarthy said.
He added that Judicial Council views NDToday.com as a "completely separate entity" similar to other campus publications. Palko and Mercanti have an official campaign Web site different from NDToday.com just as the other candidates do.
McCarthy said the message boards on NDToday.com criticize all the tickets — even Palko and Mercanti.
"They get made fun of just as much as anybody else does," said McCarthy.
Senior Scott Sutton, who regularly visits NDToday.com, said he doesn't think Palko's position with the site gives Palko/Mercanti an unfair advantage.
"I don't think there's really any conflict," said Sutton.
He said he noticed that most of the messages that talk about the candidates are more fault-finding than laudatory.
"I don't think that he's been trumpeting the fact that he's the president to get votes from users," said Sutton. "I'd say he's doing it the fair and ethical way."
The site will still continue covering the elections as usual in a way that avoids bias "out of personal fairness to everyone else," according to Palko. Currently, the site collaborates with The Observer's Viewpoint section, which polls students on campus issues, including the student government election. In addition, NDToday has links to the Web sites of both student publications, The Observer and The Scholastic, which have their own endorsements.
All News Stories for Friday, February 8, 2002
