Merriss: Watch your language
Issue date: 9/27/07 Section: Opinion
What happened?
In a Sept. 21 editorial, the Colorado State University student newspaper, The Rocky Mountain Collegian, ran a four word message, "Taser this . . . F**K BUSH," (but actually spelling out the f-word) that now may result in the editor in chief, J. David McSwane, being released from his position.
The editorial was referring to the University of Florida student who was tasered after disrupting U.S. Sen. John Kerry's speech.
In a statement issued by McSwane he said that it was not the newspaper's intent to come down on President Bush, they were merely trying to "get college students thinking about free speech."
On the same day that the editorial ran, CSU President Larry Edward Penley released his own statement that said, "I am disappointed that the Collegian's recent editorial choices do not reflect the expectations we have of our student journalists nor the standards that are clearly articulated by student media policies. I also have every expectation that the readers of the Collegian will make their viewpoints known to the editor and the Board of Student Communications (BSC), which serves as the newspaper's publisher, and that ultimately, the newspaper will answer to its readers."
Saturday, only one day after the editorial ran, the Associated Press reported that The Collegian had lost around $30,000 in advertising and was having to cut the student staffs pay by ten percent to make up the difference.
Now, McSwane is being called before the BSC and will have to defend his choice of running the editorial. The board does have specific policies on the use of profanity in student run media, saying that it will "not be used in news accounts or letters to the editor unless they are considered by the editor-in-chief to be essential to readers' understanding of the situation," and that "profane and vulgar words are not acceptable for opinion writing."
The meeting could possibly end with McSwane being removed from the staff.
My take
Was McSwane's choice to run the bigger than headline text, seeming bashing the nation's president, stupid and in bad taste? Sure. Was it unnecessary and unethical? Probably. Was it illegal? Nope.
The first amendment allows citizens to say and print what they want. The thing many have to remember is that there are usually consequences to those words and actions. In my personal opinion, they could have found another, maybe more subtle way to say it.
As it turns out, McSwane is no stranger to the scandal causing limelight. In high school, McSwane posed as a dropout druggie and tried to enlist in the military. He recorded a recruiter urging him to falsify his diploma so that he could gain admittance. This resulted in an investigation into how ethical recruiting practices are.
Agree or disagree with The Collegian's way of getting students to talk about free speech, I have to admit, it did work. On their Website, www.collegian.com the much talked about editorial had over 900 comments attached to it. Some were good and some were bad, but either way, people were talking.
Mission accomplished, Mr. McSwane. Let's just hope you have a job after all this.
Toni Merriss is the Editor in Chief of The Chanticleer. She can be reached at (256) 782-5701 or at chantyeditor@gmail.com.
In a Sept. 21 editorial, the Colorado State University student newspaper, The Rocky Mountain Collegian, ran a four word message, "Taser this . . . F**K BUSH," (but actually spelling out the f-word) that now may result in the editor in chief, J. David McSwane, being released from his position.
The editorial was referring to the University of Florida student who was tasered after disrupting U.S. Sen. John Kerry's speech.
In a statement issued by McSwane he said that it was not the newspaper's intent to come down on President Bush, they were merely trying to "get college students thinking about free speech."
On the same day that the editorial ran, CSU President Larry Edward Penley released his own statement that said, "I am disappointed that the Collegian's recent editorial choices do not reflect the expectations we have of our student journalists nor the standards that are clearly articulated by student media policies. I also have every expectation that the readers of the Collegian will make their viewpoints known to the editor and the Board of Student Communications (BSC), which serves as the newspaper's publisher, and that ultimately, the newspaper will answer to its readers."
Saturday, only one day after the editorial ran, the Associated Press reported that The Collegian had lost around $30,000 in advertising and was having to cut the student staffs pay by ten percent to make up the difference.
Now, McSwane is being called before the BSC and will have to defend his choice of running the editorial. The board does have specific policies on the use of profanity in student run media, saying that it will "not be used in news accounts or letters to the editor unless they are considered by the editor-in-chief to be essential to readers' understanding of the situation," and that "profane and vulgar words are not acceptable for opinion writing."
The meeting could possibly end with McSwane being removed from the staff.
My take
Was McSwane's choice to run the bigger than headline text, seeming bashing the nation's president, stupid and in bad taste? Sure. Was it unnecessary and unethical? Probably. Was it illegal? Nope.
The first amendment allows citizens to say and print what they want. The thing many have to remember is that there are usually consequences to those words and actions. In my personal opinion, they could have found another, maybe more subtle way to say it.
As it turns out, McSwane is no stranger to the scandal causing limelight. In high school, McSwane posed as a dropout druggie and tried to enlist in the military. He recorded a recruiter urging him to falsify his diploma so that he could gain admittance. This resulted in an investigation into how ethical recruiting practices are.
Agree or disagree with The Collegian's way of getting students to talk about free speech, I have to admit, it did work. On their Website, www.collegian.com the much talked about editorial had over 900 comments attached to it. Some were good and some were bad, but either way, people were talking.
Mission accomplished, Mr. McSwane. Let's just hope you have a job after all this.
Toni Merriss is the Editor in Chief of The Chanticleer. She can be reached at (256) 782-5701 or at chantyeditor@gmail.com.
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