Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Columnists
I enjoy reading columns, but I was wondering where does one draw the line between a columnist's prized freedom of speech and journalistic professionalism? It's great that a columnist can take sides and doesn't necessarily have to be "fair," but I don't think this gives them the right to swear or use racial slurs. They are still a part of the newspaper and they should conduct themselves in a professional manner. To take this further, do you think it is unethical for a columnist to swear or use other derogatory terms? (I know they have another set of rules that apply specifically to them, but I am not well briefed on them.) Does anyone else agree or disagree with me? I would love to hear your thoughts.
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Good question to post. I raised this issue earlier in the semester when critiquing the two humor columns on the Transcript's op-ed page. The feedback I heard from our class discussion was that the reading such obscenities, vulgarisms, and potty humor was acceptable to the readership served by the columnists, because the columns reflected, to a certain extent, how students often talk in an informal chat. I think there should be less not more of such language in columns. The exception was the recent essay by Jae Blackmon on campus safety when she wrote that being followed by daylight "scared the hell out of me." That was a powerful statement and perfectly acceptable in a column on being frightened by a potential stalker. In the mainstream press, I see very little of what you post about, when I read columns in the Dispatch op-ed page. I think derogatory language cheapens columns and the host medium, whether it is a newspaper, magazine or blog. Such language should be used very carefully, if at all.
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