2008 Woodie Awards
Our View: CSU editorial lacked class, professionalism
Issue date: 9/28/07 Section: Opinion
With just four little words last Friday, Colorado State University junior J. David McSwane opened the floodgates to a free speech debate.
In the CSU campus newspaper, The Rocky Mountain Collegian, McSwane published a staff editorial with a straight-to-the-point message, printed in large display type: "Taser this…F*** BUSH."
McSwane, 19, said earlier this week that he won't willingly resign his position, despite the fact that the newspaper has lost an estimated $30,000 in advertising revenue and that the pay of the student editors will be reduced by 10 percent to make up for the losses.
Such an incident has divided the nation, pitting those that support free speech in any and all forms against those who are mentioning the lack of "decency" and "civility" as justification for why McSwane should be fired.
At The Rocket, we fall somewhere in between those two camps: We'll defend his right to write it, even if we think it was in poor taste.
To start, it's great to see that the First Amendment (and all the debatable issues that come with it) is still alive and well in 2007. And at its core, the idea that McSwane and his comrades would publish the editorial is, if nothing else, bold.
This is not to say, however, that it was well thought out. Had McSwane and his comrades expressed their not-so-subtle opinions by writing a more traditional and well-argued opinion piece, the point still would have gotten across, albeit in a less-than-flashy manner. Even the non-profane portion of the editorial-"Taser this"-doesn't make any kind of specific argument, serving as nothing more than a roundabout reference to the Tasering of a University of Florida student at a speech by Sen. John Kerry last week.
Additionally, as many of the student journalists on the staff of The Rocket have come to learn, being involved in student journalism isn't about being a student as much as it is about being a journalist in training. We're challenged to act, write and think as professionals because in a way, we are. We're the people charged with keeping the campus community informed of the world around us, all the while maintaining a high standard of ethics.
While McSwane's decision to run the editorial required a certain amount of fortitude, all journalists are asked to report on the news, not make the news.
This gets at the heart of journalistic ethics: Balancing what can be done with what should be done.
It seems that the editors went out of their way to stir up controversy by bringing attention to themselves. McSwane himself has a history of finding the spotlight: As a high school senior, he made headlines while writing a story for his school newspaper in 2005, when he posed as a drug abuser attempting to join the Army.
The four-word editorial (if something that short can be called an editorial) may have expressed what many people feel very strongly about, but to put those strong feelings into words in such a clearly juvenile manner isn't something any responsible, objective journalist should be in the habit of doing.
If McSwane and Co.'s intention was to get some attention for the Collegian, the ploy has certainly worked. But in the aftermath, we at The Rocket feel that journalists drawing attention to themselves is unbecoming of this noble profession we aspire to be a part of.
In the CSU campus newspaper, The Rocky Mountain Collegian, McSwane published a staff editorial with a straight-to-the-point message, printed in large display type: "Taser this…F*** BUSH."
McSwane, 19, said earlier this week that he won't willingly resign his position, despite the fact that the newspaper has lost an estimated $30,000 in advertising revenue and that the pay of the student editors will be reduced by 10 percent to make up for the losses.
Such an incident has divided the nation, pitting those that support free speech in any and all forms against those who are mentioning the lack of "decency" and "civility" as justification for why McSwane should be fired.
At The Rocket, we fall somewhere in between those two camps: We'll defend his right to write it, even if we think it was in poor taste.
To start, it's great to see that the First Amendment (and all the debatable issues that come with it) is still alive and well in 2007. And at its core, the idea that McSwane and his comrades would publish the editorial is, if nothing else, bold.
This is not to say, however, that it was well thought out. Had McSwane and his comrades expressed their not-so-subtle opinions by writing a more traditional and well-argued opinion piece, the point still would have gotten across, albeit in a less-than-flashy manner. Even the non-profane portion of the editorial-"Taser this"-doesn't make any kind of specific argument, serving as nothing more than a roundabout reference to the Tasering of a University of Florida student at a speech by Sen. John Kerry last week.
Additionally, as many of the student journalists on the staff of The Rocket have come to learn, being involved in student journalism isn't about being a student as much as it is about being a journalist in training. We're challenged to act, write and think as professionals because in a way, we are. We're the people charged with keeping the campus community informed of the world around us, all the while maintaining a high standard of ethics.
While McSwane's decision to run the editorial required a certain amount of fortitude, all journalists are asked to report on the news, not make the news.
This gets at the heart of journalistic ethics: Balancing what can be done with what should be done.
It seems that the editors went out of their way to stir up controversy by bringing attention to themselves. McSwane himself has a history of finding the spotlight: As a high school senior, he made headlines while writing a story for his school newspaper in 2005, when he posed as a drug abuser attempting to join the Army.
The four-word editorial (if something that short can be called an editorial) may have expressed what many people feel very strongly about, but to put those strong feelings into words in such a clearly juvenile manner isn't something any responsible, objective journalist should be in the habit of doing.
If McSwane and Co.'s intention was to get some attention for the Collegian, the ploy has certainly worked. But in the aftermath, we at The Rocket feel that journalists drawing attention to themselves is unbecoming of this noble profession we aspire to be a part of.
