Fri 14 Sep 2007
Time for CCSU to toss The Recorder’s editor and staff
Posted by Peter G under it's the stupid media , gender , race , education
Today’s Courant has an article about the latest outrage by the editor and staff of the CCSU student newspaper, The Recorder.
Seems after sitting down and actually discussing the matter, editor Mark Rowan and his writers concluded that publishing a cartoon “that made reference to locking a teenage Hispanic girl in a closet and urinating on her” would not be offensive. The cartoon appears in the September 12 print edition of The Recorder and can be viewed as a pdf on its website.
By that I can only conclude that the so-called journalists at The Recorder meant it would not be offensive to anyone so polluted by their own misogyny that they thought that an article about why “ugly women” benefit from being raped would also be considered humorous and inoffensive. Earlier this year, The Recorder ran an article – also on Rowan’s editorial watch – that said just that.
Obviously it is completely appropriate for students and faculty – and the community – to demand that Rowan and all of the reporters who participated in this “editorial decision” be sacked immediately. That’s a no-brainer. The question is whether the university community will also take the completely appropriate step of demanding that CCSU initiate disciplinary proceedings against MarKKK Rowan with the goal of expelling him from the university. It seems that Mr. Rowan loves the idea of ruffling feathers and getting people riled up . . . no doubt he figures on riding the waves of controversy he creates right onto a lucrative career at Fox News or some other media corporation that would appreciate his open bigotry. Fine, then let’s speed him on his way and run this slimy little creature off the campus.
September 14th, 2007 at 9:08 am
I think that people use the first amendment to excuse speech and actions that are not in fact included in the Constitution. Every college/university that I’ve attended, considered attending, considered working at has had a clear code of conduct, which makes it undeniable that students and faculty at that institution may not harass or infringe on others’ personal rights, especially along lines of gender, race, and sexual orientation.
School newspapers are problematic because, overall, 1. too many are nothing more than advertisements for area bars 2. articles tend to be canned pieces 3. real discourse is discouraged, while shock jock items are encouraged.
It’s a shame that scholars can’t/won’t/aren’t being invited to use their brains more.
September 14th, 2007 at 10:38 am
The kid needs to be sent to reeducation camp. I don’t think he should be expelled but he should be taught the difference between the sophomoronics of shock jocks like Imus and poison pen polemicists like Coulter and the satire and sendups of Chappelle, Mencia and Colbert.
September 14th, 2007 at 10:48 am
perhaps as the new intern at the Hartford Advocate he will grow as a person and a writer.
September 15th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
If nothing else is clear, it is clear that this guy and his staff buddies lack judgment.
I read several “articles” from the online draft, and they don’t have much in the way of journalistic integrity. There’s one article about the reporter from the New Britain paper, who broke the “Rape is a Magical Thing” story. The article is nothing but a sophomoric rant.
September 17th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
Here’s a link to the Undercurrents blog on the CCSU rape article.
http://hartfordimc.org/blog/2007/02/12/ccsu-meeting-today-students-present-demands/
September 26th, 2007 at 11:24 am
I didn’t even get the crux of the cartoon’s “joke”.
Seems it was just an asinine attempt at being ironic and cutting edge. It was on the cutting edge of stupid and offensive. It had no point. Period. There’s a fine line between toilet humor that make people go, ohhhh, I get it and just being offensive for no reason at all.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
If it was titled something like “Abu Ghraib” and lost the whole “latino girl” reference, it might be a political statement. No such luck.
December 21st, 2007 at 1:34 pm
[…] The past year has been a rocky one for CCSU and Miller’s administration. Miller recently survived a no confidence vote after anger over his handling of other racist and sexist incidents on campus. For a refresher on these incidents, see Undercurrents coverage here, here, and here. […]