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If the day-to-day editing of a newspaper can teach a lesson in two words, it is surely these: be careful.
On Oct. 9, The Badger Herald ran a news article that said the Associated Students of Madison decided to no longer fund unlimited SAFEcab rides home for SAFEwalkers. The article did facilitate an interesting discussion, but it was missing an obvious perspective — that of ASM. The student government’s spokesperson — Ken Harris — wrote a letter to the editor calling the Herald on its blunder.
“[ASM] did not just recently cut funds for SAFEwalkers to use SAFEcabs, as the article states,” wrote Harris, a former Badger Herald news editor. “There was never supposed to be money for these unlimited rides in the first place, as ASM never granted an exception for this purpose.”
From the tone of his letter, it was obvious that ASM spokesperson Ken Harris was overcompensating for his perceived allegiance to the Herald, but his point was spot on. How could an article about an action taken by ASM neglect to interview an ASM member?
“Do I think it was essential to the story? No,” Herald Editor in Chief Jason Smathers said in a phone interview. “But he has a point: if we’re going to be talking about ASM, we should talk to ASM. Frankly, it’s something I should have caught.”
It’s hardly the first time the Herald has made this kind of error. In a confusing article by Alex Skanavis in yesterday’s paper about a “Plan A” and “Plan B” for Mifflin Street development, the Herald failed to interview any proponents of “Plan B,” which according to the article, “includes heavier development and renovations.”
Almost everyone who read this story is probably still looking for clarification about specific differences between the plans and whether the online commenters who sought the clarify the distinction are correct. The Herald would be wise to run a follow-up article on this issue and will hopefully find someone to stick up for Plan B.
Sex Column Wordplay
In the Oct. 13 ArtsEtc. section, sex columnist Rachel Dickens (to her credit) advised Herald readers not to tell their lovers: “You fuck like a paraplegic and I hate it.” The quote is so obviously offensive that it’s hard to imagine why none of the multiple editors who review all Herald content raised a red flag.
Mr. Smathers “usually (tries) to let the sex column be what it is.” And it certainly is hard for an editor to judge how far is too far in a column that is often meant to test and create those boundaries, but publishing that phrase was certainly a mistake. Smathers later added, “I’m not going to censor them when it’s an off-hand comment,” forgetting nothing is “off-hand” in a newspaper.
The Herald, however, has attached an editor’s note to the sex column in the past because it seemed to advocate illegal activity. Smathers has reserved the right to do so if the column was being “reckless.” His openness to the oft-racy column is admirable, but the Herald would be negligent if it allows similar language to make it to print in the future.
Reported crime vs. crime
In the comments section of the Oct. 2 article “UW sees drop in crime on campus,” a reader asked, “Drop in crime or a drop in reported crime?”
The lead of the article by Lindsay Berger said, “Safety on the University of Wisconsin campus has seen major improvements over the past two years with total crime at an all-time low.”
In reality, it is impossible to know how many crimes were committed in any given year, and the article goes on to omit the word “reported,” save for when citing incidences of sexual assault. Not a huge mistake, but an important distinction that should lead to questions about what efforts the police department is making to ensure all crimes are reported.
Kudos
This time around they go to Sports Editor Jordan Schelling’s fascinating Oct. 1 interviews with former and current UW standout football players Chris Maragos, Luke Swan and Jim Leonhard. If you haven’t had the chance to check them out, they are a must-read for every UW sports fan.
Bassey Etim was the managing editor of The Badger Herald. He is currently a news assistant for The New York Times. Please send complaints and comments on Herald coverage to [email protected] All complaints will be investigated by the public editor.
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Nice article. Thanks for acknowledging some issues that have appeared recently.
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Here’s a hypo: If that sex column had said “you fuck like a [racial/ethnic slur]” is there any question that it would have been “censored” or that the person responsible would no longer be writing for the Herald?
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Why can’t they just write a sex education article without crossing boundaries? I’m pretty sure all of us here are mature enough to handle it but then they cover topics (autofellatio last year) and use phrases (f* like a paraplegic)that really don’t need to be said. Make them about sexual health without an offensive tone and more people would approve of them.
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Bassey - The BH has already run a story about “Plan B” for Mifflin.
http://badgerherald.com/news/2009/09/11/mifflincouldsee_hi.php
There wasn’t anything new presented on Tuesday night. It might have been good for Alex to reference the earlier story, but there’s no need for a complete followup.
Finally, it was difficult to find someone who was interested in “Plan B” - the straw poll in the room was something like 17 to 3 for Plan A.
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The flaw in the straw poll is in the way the plan was presented. The ASM Legislative Committee was very biased in the way it presented the two plans, in a way that may have mislead some of the students into thinking that Plan B was inferior and not really worthy of discussion. They said something along the lines of, “We need to give these surveys to the City Council to show what the student view is here at UW”, so make sure to fill them out. Then, they presented the material in a way to sway attendees to Plan A and not even consider the merits of Plan B. THEN, they hold a straw poll so that it can be presented to the City Council, too. Furthermore, the event was advertised as an event to save Mifflin Street, so OF COURSE the people there were pro-Plan A. The meeting can’t be said to be reflective of the student sentiment as a whole and it is unfair how little coverage/merit Plan B is getting, as it is a very solid plan.
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Offhand, I’d say this op-ed article was unnecessary…… as are sexual references to those who have suffered major paralysis. But such is the coarse and retrograde nature of our modern culture. Hope….. Change….. yeah.
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