It's no wonder fewer people read newspapers. I can't say I blame them. If the future of journalism includes people such as J. David McSwane - the editor in chief of The Rocky Mountain Collegian, Colorado State's student newspaper - I'm scared. The CSU Editorial Board, headed by McSwane, published an editorial in September that consisted of solely "F*** BUSH" in page-filling type. Why? "We're zealots for freedom of speech and we felt that after Andrew Meyers (sic) on the University of Florida campus was pulled from his mic and abused … that we started getting people to talk," McSwane said three days after the editorial came out. Go ahead, McSwane, be a zealot for the freedom of speech, but do it by yourself. Start a blog. Write a strongly-worded letter to President George Bush. Start a rally on campus. But putting it into the newspaper, which represents not only the staff of the Collegian but the CSU campus, is beyond stupid. I'm not saying that editorials should censor their true feelings. But editors should be especially aware of the ramifications of their actions. The Collegian lost more than $30,000 in advertising, writers quit and I'm sure the publication's credibility has taken a significant hit. Was it really worth one F-bomb? It's called yellow journalism - something McSwane (who somehow was able to keep his job) should've learned in a basic journalism class. But apparently, more newspapers want to build Meyer into this straw man who was just trying to exercise his right to free speech. Last week, the University of Oregon student newspaper Daily Emerald published an editorial with "Fire this … F*** CENSORSHIP" as its massive headline. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, however, which makes this the perfect moment for a strong statement in support of free speech," the editorial said. Fortunately, the Daily Emerald's copycat effort was not picked up by the mainstream media in the same fashion the Collegian's was. The Collegian, though its message was quite misguided, at least had the guts to publish it first. I'm sure some other school has already or will hop on this and see how many F-words they can put in a headline just because they have the freedom to do so. What is the point of all of this? They are using cheap shock value to create a controversy. Shock value can work if you are Howard Stern or an unofficial on-campus publication such as The Koala, but swearing should not be a means of attraction in a newspaper striving for credibility. There really should've been no controversy to begin with. Meyer was not this poor little boy who just wanted his chance to talk with Sen. John Kerry. Meyer interrupted another student's question and was being pompous and annoying on purpose when his microphone was cut off, according to various CNN reports. While the tasering may have been a bit extreme, I don't feel that he was unjustly censored by the Big Brother that the Collegian and Daily Emerald tried to create. Meyer received punishment for being disorderly at a peaceful forum. I just know that if I'm going to put the reputation of myself and the newspaper staff on the line, it's not going to be for a guy who's infamous line is "Don't tase me, bro!"
- Justin Lafferty is an interdisciplinary studies senior.
-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed - include your full name, major and year in school.
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