2008 Woodie Awards
Editorial
The problems of David McSwane
Dylan Breslin-Barnhart
Issue date: 9/27/07 Section: Opinions
- Page 1 of 1
The grass is always browner on the other side. At least if you're on any side other than that of embattled Colorado State University student newspaper Editor-in-Chief David McSwane. McSwane thought it would be a good idea to print the following editorial, edited for decency: "Taser This: Fu*k Bush." No, that's not the headline. That's the whole editorial.
It's easy to call McSwane a total moron. In exercising his free speech, he's also exercised his stupidity. And his stupidity was not free; according to CNN, his job's now in jeopardy and his newspaper quickly lost $30,000 of ad revenue. The difference in part is coming out of the salaries of the student newspaper's staff (yes, I would be paid for this at CSU).
When speech is truly free, that's fine. Say what you want. But McSwane should have realized that his speech in this case was harmful, both to himself and to his staff. Now that the national news networks have jumped all over the story, imagine how far a Collegian writer or editor would want to run from McSwane. While the blame clearly rests on the Big Cheese's shoulders, the other staffers are probably rightly worried to some degree about tainted reputations by association. Unless they apply for jobs to some far left-wing rag, their credibility within the mainstream media is possibly damaged.
Besides this potential for hurting the career prospects of his co-workers, there's another thing about McSwane's stunt that really annoys me. He's completely LAZY. Yes, the guy clearly had a point; he doesn't like Bush and he probably objects to what he sees as a whole authoritarian culture surrounding the current government, hence the "taser this" taunt. (And no David, no one's going to taser you, we're just going to remember your name and that we want to have nothing to do with you. Enjoy being alone and unsuccessful.)
The problem here, however, is not with McSwane's views. Person political ideology should never be the basis for segregation of any sort. The issue is that McSwane, as the Editor-in-Chief of a big college paper, could only come up with four words to discuss his feelings apparently regarding the vast issue of Presidential misuse of power. Ironically, it's not McSwane's exercise of free speech that upsets me as much as his exercise of abridgement. You don't write an editorial as if you were Instant Messaging or posting on facebook.com. Show some respect for the newspaper, McSwane. And take the advice of one of your own columnists, a talented writer named Daniel Gibson-Reinemer: "Using profanity as a quick way to get attention is cheap, unprofessional, and sophomoric."
It's easy to call McSwane a total moron. In exercising his free speech, he's also exercised his stupidity. And his stupidity was not free; according to CNN, his job's now in jeopardy and his newspaper quickly lost $30,000 of ad revenue. The difference in part is coming out of the salaries of the student newspaper's staff (yes, I would be paid for this at CSU).
When speech is truly free, that's fine. Say what you want. But McSwane should have realized that his speech in this case was harmful, both to himself and to his staff. Now that the national news networks have jumped all over the story, imagine how far a Collegian writer or editor would want to run from McSwane. While the blame clearly rests on the Big Cheese's shoulders, the other staffers are probably rightly worried to some degree about tainted reputations by association. Unless they apply for jobs to some far left-wing rag, their credibility within the mainstream media is possibly damaged.
Besides this potential for hurting the career prospects of his co-workers, there's another thing about McSwane's stunt that really annoys me. He's completely LAZY. Yes, the guy clearly had a point; he doesn't like Bush and he probably objects to what he sees as a whole authoritarian culture surrounding the current government, hence the "taser this" taunt. (And no David, no one's going to taser you, we're just going to remember your name and that we want to have nothing to do with you. Enjoy being alone and unsuccessful.)
The problem here, however, is not with McSwane's views. Person political ideology should never be the basis for segregation of any sort. The issue is that McSwane, as the Editor-in-Chief of a big college paper, could only come up with four words to discuss his feelings apparently regarding the vast issue of Presidential misuse of power. Ironically, it's not McSwane's exercise of free speech that upsets me as much as his exercise of abridgement. You don't write an editorial as if you were Instant Messaging or posting on facebook.com. Show some respect for the newspaper, McSwane. And take the advice of one of your own columnists, a talented writer named Daniel Gibson-Reinemer: "Using profanity as a quick way to get attention is cheap, unprofessional, and sophomoric."
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