College Media Matters

Editors at The Wesleyan Argus recently retracted a controversial opinion piece about “the horrors of single-sex education.”  They are now running a pair of apologies to readers in its place.

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The article was written by a Wesleyan University junior who transferred to the Connecticut coed school from Bryn Mawr College.  She described the write-up as a “showcase . . . of the stereotypes I encountered as a student during my first two years at Bryn Mawr and to explain why a women’s college was not right for me.”

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As the article notes at one point, “Socially, going to a women’s college means almost literally screaming ‘Death to the Patriarchy!’ all day, every day. It means bloody tampons strewn all over the bathroom floor. It means glaring at the coed schools’ sports teams who come to your campus to eat your chicken wings. It means taking a bus to other schools on the weekends to do unmentionable things with aforementioned sports teams. It really isn’t normal.”

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Soon after its publication, online commenters– many of them “alumni and students of women’s colleges who adamantly assert that no such incidents occur at their institutions”– unleashed a torrent of criticism.  They called the write-up a stereotype-affirming hit piece based solely on anecdotes, “ludicrous cliches,” and one student’s limited experiences.

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They also attacked the headline.  While the article focuses solely on the student’s time at Bryn Mawr, the header references Wellesley College, another reputable women’s-only school.  Specifically, it reads, “Wesleyan v. Wellesley: “Rather Dead than Coed?”  As the writer later explained, rather inexplicably, “Wellesley is mentioned in the title of the article because the two schools [Wesleyan and Wellesley] are often confused with each other due to their similarity in nomenclature.”

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In response to critics’ attacks, the Argus made the rare decision to remove the article entirely from its website, instead posting separate apologies from the editors and the writer.  As the editors’ statement notes, “We failed to uphold our duty to ensure that articles, op-eds or otherwise, do not unfairly target individuals or groups.  Many of the author’s assertions in this piece were unfounded, and we apologize to those who were hurt or offended by them.”

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In a Chronicle of Higher Education post, Wesleyan professor Claire Potter agrees the paper’s top eds. erred enough to warrant a public mea culpa.  As she asks on her blog Tenured Radical, “[W]hy did the editors . . . publish it in the first place?  Editors, even student editors, are supposed to edit, which means telling writers when they are about to do something stupid, ill-informed and/or wrong.”

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A short write-up in a student newspaper at a New York college about a sorority’s suspension has led to threats, thefts, trashing, and a level of attention and vitriol editors confirm is unprecedented.

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The Concordiensis recently published a roughly 100-word article confirming that Union College administrators were temporarily banning campus sorority Delta Delta Delta from doing, well, anything, including “new member/pledge activities, meetings, social events, philanthropy events, and educational programming.”  The suspension stems from an incident earlier this month that resulted in four students being hospitalized for alcohol-related ailments.

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The outside press picked up on the Concordy‘s initial report and, by all accounts, it reads as reputable journalism.  Yet, a spate of Union students have strongly objected to its publication.  They have demeaned it as a hit piece on what should be a privately-handled matter and claim it lacks context and well-rounded sourcing.

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Concordy editors confirm the article generated roughly eight times the paper’s normal online traffic.  It also led to a rash of vile-filled comments.  The first one following the piece matches the tone of many: “This is disgusting . . . that this went to print.  Firstly, it is poorly written, secondly who cares, thirdly the facts are all wrong.  Concordy, disappointed.  Sad excuse of a paper.”

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In a follow-up editorial, the paper’s editors-in-chief defend the story as an example of the Concordy‘s role “as a conduit of campus information and discussion.”  The facts back up their assertion: the information the paper reported upon was verified; it has newsworthy value (drinking and hospitalization and a Greek org suspension, oh my!); and it has been fleshed out in follow-up reports.  That’s decent journalism, folks.

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And this is censorship.  As an editorial confirms, in the wake of the piece’s publication, there have been “[n]ewspapers trashed. Secret notes slipped into editor’s bags. An anonymous phone call threatening a member of our staff. It has been an interesting week here at the Concordiensis.  On Thursday, about 900 copies of our newspaper were stolen from distribution boxes around campus and trashed in nearby recycling bins.  No students were apprehended.”

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In a separate commentary, as Delta Delta Delta-gate continues, Concordy staffer Erin Delman praises the paper for stirring “passionate debate.”  As she writes in the piece, headlined, “On the Role of Student Newspapers,” “The Delta Delta Delta article aroused an intense emotional response across campus. While some criticize the article for being the catalyst for this reaction, I see it as a positive testament to the validity of the Concordiensis.  It must continue to serve as the uncensored venue through which students can learn about the news at Union.”

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A report from a journalism school’s news outlet about bus segregation has New York City abuzz– with the mayor and New York Times weighing in.

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A story appearing earlier this week on the homepage of The New York World– a site affiliated with Columbia University’s j-school and run by recent alums– revealed that a public bus in Brooklyn requires women to sit in the back, separate from men.  The eye-opening gender-segregation is apparently in deference to the beliefs of the Hasidic Jewish communities the bus line serves.

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According to the World, male riders of the bus repeatedly told a woman who sat at the front last week to move to the rear.  As the article, by Sasha Chavkin, confirmed, “They were Orthodox Jews with full beards, sidecurls and long black coats, who told her that she was riding a ‘private bus’ and a ‘Jewish bus.’  When she asked why she had to move, a man scolded her. ‘If God makes a rule, you don’t ask ‘Why make the rule?‘”

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The World piece “gained widespread publicity” almost immediately after publication.  A related NYT story ran yesterday.  The city’s transportation department and human rights commission are also now looking into what seem to be clear violations of anti-discrimination laws.  And NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg has voiced his concern.  As the NYT write-up noted, “Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, the mayor said that segregating men and women was ‘obviously not permitted’ on public buses.  ‘Private people: you can have a private bus,’ he added. ‘Go rent a bus, and do what you want on it.’”

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The World is an interesting academic-professional hybrid– aligned with a journalism school; funded by private donors and a few top-notch external foundations; and staffed by Columbia post-grads serving out one-year appointments.

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As the About page states, “The New York World produces accountability journalism devoted to deepening public understanding of the ways city and state government shape life in New York City. Our news stories and data projects illuminate issues and engage New Yorkers with information about how their city works. . . . The New York World was inspired in part by News 21, a nationwide effort to teach, challenge, and prepare the next generation of news industry leaders.”

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The Athenaeum News is perhaps the strangest– and most vengeful– student media start-up this semester.  A 40-year-old sophomore journalism and electronic media major at the University of Tennessee recently began publishing the weekly paper to publicly share details of an affair between his now ex-wife and a UT professor.

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Interestingly, in a quick online scan, it seems like a standard student publication– complete with sports, campus life, and arts and culture features and ads for State Farm, U-Haul, and local restaurants.  But its chief purpose, main news reports, and subsequent publicity have been “devoted so far to the affair its founder, Mustapha Moussa, blames for breaking up his marriage.”

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Apparently, Moussa’s ex-wife entered into a flirtatious relationship with a UT geography professor in 2006 while still his student.  She was also still married to Moussa at the time.  She has since divorced him and married the professor.

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As The Knoxville News Sentinel reports, “The first story [in the Athenaeum News] ran Aug. 29 under Moussa’s byline and consisted mainly of steamy quotes from the professor’s emails [to Moussa's ex-wife while she was still in the professor's class] and excerpts from records of a UT investigation into the affair.  The story also included anonymous quotes attributed to former geography students, calling [the professor] ‘creepy’ and ‘despicable’ and accusing him of trying to sleep with students.”

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Critics are accusing Moussa of character assassination, press-pulpit bullying, and general creepiness.  He counters that he is attempting to alert campus about a figure he feels is a danger to students and fighting a university he contends is wrong for letting him continue teaching there.

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In his words, “I’m effecting change.  This university has cut [the professor] slack, and I don’t know why.  Students get thrown out of the university just for having a beer on campus.  I feel like I’m fighting a giant.  The more pressure we put on the university, the better, and I’ll be happy to see him out of this campus.”

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