As a country, state and university, we’ve come a long way in regards to racial diversity and the level of acceptance we have towards minority groups and their customs, no matter how different they seem to be. In most branches of mass media, there is an expected quantity of ‘political correct-ness’ that must be present.
For as frustrating as it may be for those of us in the media, at any level, we have to adhere to these standards. As a matter of fact, sometimes it’s almost comical the lengths we go to make sure we don’t offend certain groups.
Our paper has no choice but to follow suit. Just as the New York Times cannot run a story that attacks a certain race, even if this is only done in passing, neither can our group. A racial slur, or any type of general racist comments or feelings, cannot find their way into a true journalistic publication.
Here at The Recorder, though not by the mistakes of any current staff member, we have seen what external sensitivity can do against your reputation.Our group’s name, which is constantly burdened by a bad incident several years ago, keeps our integrity in the forefront of our minds at all times.
Several years ago, former members of this paper faced the threat of forced resignation and the wrath of a rightfully upset campus over a questionable and grotesque article. Though the decision to run the story was clearly the wrong one, the full responsibility taken afterwards and the discussion that followed was an educational one.
This paper also acts as a learning tool. Hopefully, it is an extension of things we are learning in journalism and other writing courses. Most of the staff has taken the responsibilities of journalism course offered here. We know that we cannot write things which maliciously throw slurs at certain ethnicities.
It should be known that we have to worry about things like libel. We are a real publication. If we publicly defame a person or group, we can face the consequences. Furthermore, as a staff, we’re aware of this because we have an understanding of the amount of readers we obtain.
“Off-Center Magazine is a student-run publication that seeks to provide a balanced and respectful forum devoted to accurate information, student information and fair coverage of the many sides of a given situation.”
This the first line on the Off-Center Magazine Facebook page in the ‘about us’ section. The mission statement continues to talk about diversity and tolerance, an acceptance for everyone, no matter who they are. And given the fact that the magazine was the result of The Recorder’s past mistakes, it’s funny that they should fail to live up to their self-proclaimed values.
Given the fact that we often receive many complaints and letters about what we write in our paper, there are certain things that we, as a staff, have issues with in the one printed magazine that Off-Center has put out this calendar year. The problem lies with its complete disregard for, in words from their mission statement, “a balanced and respectful forum.”
On page 13 of the issue, which came out in March, there is a story titled “Sodexho or Swastixo?” Not only is Sodexo spelled wrong in the headline, but this is a direct reference to the Nazi party. Using a swastika as your reference is crossing the line. This offends people. We understand the fact that Seinfeld used this reference, but the actual symbol was never part of it.
The real issue lies in the body of the text. In what is promised to be a “balanced” magazine, the author chose to write completely against Sodexo and never completed the other side of his research. Balance means that both sides should have a say. Even in an opinion piece, there is research that must done for both sides, whether or not the author vehemently disagrees with it or not. Fairness and balance aren’t limited to hard news.
Moving forward, if anyone on our staff wrote the words “slanty-eyed sauce” to describe the type of dressing Sodexo uses on its chicken like Off-Center Magazine did, we’d face an uproar from the Asian community. This isn’t ethical and there’s not really any other way to put it.
Our staff doesn’t have an issue with Off-Center’s existence, but it shouldn’t be using racial slurs and standing behind bad ethical decisions. We’re not sure if this was read and decided that it was passable enough to get into the latest issue or if it was even read at all. This undermines the credibility of writers at this university.
For now, we will do our part in making sure that a regular, weekly and high-quality publication hits the newsstands every Wednesday. We will do our best to ensure fairness, balance and accuracy, and if any of these are missed, we will do our best to correct the situation.