Issue 8 of The Sentinel is out. It’s a good one. We all worked really hard and it shows. There are some mistakes, but nothing major. I forgot to bring the PDFs home with me, so I’ll post them tomorrow.
Something interesting did happen though. Today I was sitting in class when one of the editors came up to me (Nils was talking) and told me there were four mad cheerleaders in the newsroom. I immediately though “Oh boy, they are mad about that opinion piece.” Well, I was right. They were mad. Really mad. Two of them were crying. They yelled (well, maybe loudly exclaimed) at me for 10 minutes. I told them there wasn’t much I could do about it, that I was sorry and that I hoped they would write a letter to the editor expressing their anger etc. I don’t think any of it helped. You can read the article here. It doesn’t say anything terrible, at least not outright. What it does is hint at things.
Anyways, it was an interesting morning. It got better as Nils (the adviser) got several phone calls from angry parents and the athletic director.
It looks like we are going to meet with the AD and the cheer leading adviser (or whatever you call that position) tomorrow.
I feel really bad about this. As the managing editor it’s my responsibly to check things that go into the paper. Well, personally I think I goofed. I don’t think we should have run this article. However, it is an opinion piece. So it’s a complicated issue because it's this one guys opinion (I didn’t write the article) and he has a right to express it (I suppose).
I’m not sure how things will work out. I do believe that it will all blow over (eventually, like everything I guess), which isn’t to say I’m taking it lightly. It was hard to watch those girls cry in anger and shame.
So, we will see. I’ll have a better idea about what will happen (or won’t) tomorrow after we meet with the AD. Until then I’ curious, what do you guys think (here I go assuming that people read this, well I guess I’ll find out)? I would love it if you would go read the article and then comment, let me know.
Actually that reminds me of an article I read a few weeks ago in Wired magazine. It’s all about how, after a certain point, social networks stop being social. That once you have 20,000 Twitter followers the conversation stops. Pretty interesting. Check it out here.
OK, great thanks for reading, lets talk.
50 Years of Yoga
1 year ago
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1 comment:
[This comment is really long; I apologize ahead of time...]
So at my paper, we accept any type of content from any student. It's an open forum. Anything goes into the paper (with the exception of slander, libel, and untruths, of course) because there would be more hell raised if we didn't print something controversial than if we did.
It's with this background that I offer my opinion: I am pleased that you ran the article.
But, I also have some questions.
1) Do you publish headshots with the opinion articles? I'm sure I've seen them, but if you don't, you should... and they should be online, too.
2) Ok, so how far ahead of production week/weekend did this guy's article come in? Was there time to sit down and chat with him about it?
3) How much editing did it go through? Just minor copy editing? Anything else?
I like the article-- it presents a strong opinion as well as giving some slight background, and the author demonstrates at least some knowledge of cheerleading. But there are some parts where he could stand to be reigned in a little. I know that even as an editor you can't do that without silencing his voice, but maybe if you did it with him, he'd be more comfortable about what he was saying, and you'd be more comfortable with running it. Also, when I read it I wondered if he had an ex-girlfriend or something who was a cheerleader and wanted to get back at her... so I'd clarify his reasons for writing the article.
Even as it is, though, I don't think you did anything wrong by printing it. Cheerleaders get a ton of flack, but so do curling teams for their "non" sport, so do football players for their tight pants, so do basketball players for their loose ones... it comes with the territory. Sometimes I think part of being at college is developing a thick skin.
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