2008 Woodie Awards
'(Expletive) Bush' editorial an embarrassment to collegiate journalism
Editorial
DI Editorial Board
Issue date: 9/25/07 Section: Opinions
- Page 1 of 1
It may surprise some to know that there are ironclad rules that journalists live by. Our profession is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the one most closely linked to ideas of honor and integrity in the minds of most of the public. Ethical failures such as those of Jayson Blair, Janet Cooke, and Dan Rather have become the biggest headlines of the news about the news, but they are exceptions to a rule. It is with great regret, then, that this Editorial Board feels obligated to violate one of the Mosaic commandments of journalism: Thou shalt not rubbish thine peer institutions. We refer, of course, to the staff editorial, notable more for its brevity than its wit, that appeared in the Sept. 21 Rocky Mountain Collegian: "Taser this … (Expletive) BUSH." The last two words were printed in what we estimated was 200-point type.
It's not difficult to understand how the editorial board of the Collegian - Colorado State University's student newspaper - arrived at its general conclusions. The DI Editorial Board has been and will continue to be critics of the Bush administration. But the childish way in which the Collegian writers chose to express themselves reflects badly on both them specifically and college newspapers in general. In reducing their criticism of Bush to playground invective, they tarred other college-media outlets with the same brush, and their after-the-fact attempts to wrap themselves in First Amendment glory only enhanced their naked self-righteousness. Trying to relate the case of Andrew Meyer, the University of Florida student who was publicly Tasered at a political event, to President Bush is puzzling. All the more puzzling is that the Rocky Mountain Collegian is no upstart, far-left 'zine. It is a centenarian giant of the field and long one of the most respected college newspapers in the country.
Why, then, such invective? It may have something to do with this president. It's no secret that Bush excites as much angry furor on the left as his predecessor, Bill Clinton, did on the right. The impulse to curse the president publicly, coupled with the means to do so, must have been a double-barreled temptation to the Collegian's editorial staff.
With a nod to Voltaire (or to whoever actually said it,) we defend to the death the Collegian's right to publish as they like, as well as our own right to strongly disagree. In a letter of explanation posted on the paper's website, Editor-in-Chief J. David McSwane makes much the same point in defense of the editorial.
The First Amendment protects the freedom of the press with striking comprehensiveness, regardless of whether the press publishes anything worthwhile. But there is a commensurate responsibility for journalists to use that freedom for the public good. Simply flexing our freedom-of-speech muscles does not do that.
It's not difficult to understand how the editorial board of the Collegian - Colorado State University's student newspaper - arrived at its general conclusions. The DI Editorial Board has been and will continue to be critics of the Bush administration. But the childish way in which the Collegian writers chose to express themselves reflects badly on both them specifically and college newspapers in general. In reducing their criticism of Bush to playground invective, they tarred other college-media outlets with the same brush, and their after-the-fact attempts to wrap themselves in First Amendment glory only enhanced their naked self-righteousness. Trying to relate the case of Andrew Meyer, the University of Florida student who was publicly Tasered at a political event, to President Bush is puzzling. All the more puzzling is that the Rocky Mountain Collegian is no upstart, far-left 'zine. It is a centenarian giant of the field and long one of the most respected college newspapers in the country.
Why, then, such invective? It may have something to do with this president. It's no secret that Bush excites as much angry furor on the left as his predecessor, Bill Clinton, did on the right. The impulse to curse the president publicly, coupled with the means to do so, must have been a double-barreled temptation to the Collegian's editorial staff.
With a nod to Voltaire (or to whoever actually said it,) we defend to the death the Collegian's right to publish as they like, as well as our own right to strongly disagree. In a letter of explanation posted on the paper's website, Editor-in-Chief J. David McSwane makes much the same point in defense of the editorial.
The First Amendment protects the freedom of the press with striking comprehensiveness, regardless of whether the press publishes anything worthwhile. But there is a commensurate responsibility for journalists to use that freedom for the public good. Simply flexing our freedom-of-speech muscles does not do that.
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 8
Mark Woodburn
posted 9/25/07 @ 9:13 AM CST
I, like the Editorial Board of the DI, am no lover of Bush and take every opportunity I get to spread my views on him far and wide. However, the DI Board makes the case well that this editorial in the Collegian stepped way out of bounds. (Continued…)
Rick Derrig
posted 9/25/07 @ 9:41 AM CST
Editorial board,
Sometimes, the use of such an expletive ,ESPECIALLY the one I'm presuming it is, actually does serve a purpose -it illustrates the extreme degree of frustration and anger in a way more gentle verbiage simply can't adequately convey. (Continued…)
ryan
posted 9/25/07 @ 9:48 AM CST
Bush deserves that type of language for what he has done to this country. Police state actions like the tasering are part of the culture he has created. (Continued…)
ACB
posted 9/25/07 @ 10:54 AM CST
Like the DI has such high journalistic standards... wasn't there a full-color, front page (Sports section) "article" (cartoon, whatever) pointing out how lame "L'Ames" is? Real professional. (Continued…)
Taco
posted 9/25/07 @ 12:55 PM CST
The readers are not buying your claims of integrity DI Editorialists. Compounding this shot at the Collegian on top of every other slanted and irresponsible thing you've printed this semester and past semesters, all you've done is rack up another mistake and dug the hole a foot deeper. (Continued…)
Mike
posted 9/25/07 @ 3:42 PM CST
The unfortunate thing is that in a town that likes to think of itself as educated, we have people like Ryan who believe that this is a result of Bush. (Continued…)
T. Larson
posted 9/26/07 @ 12:14 PM CST
If they were looking to shock, they chose the wrong word. Unfortunately, the F-word has been so overused in our culture it has lost its ability provoke us. (Continued…)
Gerald Baker
posted 9/27/07 @ 5:29 PM CST
A bill just passed by the US Senate is a REAL obscenity. Below is the way it was reported today, on the blog of Dan Lyons. Dan is a native of my home town, Cresco, and a professor at Colorado State University, Ft. (Continued…)
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