student journalism
Although I rarely discuss it now, I had the distinct pleasure of being the editor-in-chief of the student paper while I was in my third year of undergrad. Back in those days, I was a younger version of the godless socialist that I have blossomed into today, and I don’t think it any exageration to say that I did my best to wrestle the student paper from the clutches of the useless student council that funded it and the overbearing administration that dictated its content.
One day I might share some of my many memories of the failed attempts by the student council to censor the paper, or the threats of disciplinary action that I regularly received from the administration. For now, I will republish my inaugural editorial if only to give you a taste of what, in my humble opinion, a student newspaper should strive towards.
Abrupt Greetings from the Editor…
An opening salvo: Any student newspaper that refuses to speak with a critical voice deserves to have its tongue cut out. The right to be heard is contingent on having something worthwhile to say.
It is a fear of the knife that will guide this newspaper this year, that and a fear of being irrelevant. If this newspaper cannot arouse from its readers a flood of praise or blame then it has failed. It matters not the nature of the reaction that is provoked so long as the muted corpse of student dialogue is reawakened. Tied tongues must be un-knotted lest our boldest ideas perish unspoken.
The task of this newspaper is urgent insofar as dialogue is integral to the vitality of the student body. Without dialogue, little remains save for the fractured chorus of petty cellphone-mediated monologues that now permeates the campus—the equivalent of silence, of social depravity. Owing to the broad reach of the press, we possess an amplified voice and, as such, enjoy a privileged position from which to initiate discussion. We have the power to reanimate a campus that for too long has been paralyzed by that peculiar form of inertia where everything is discussed save for that which really matters.
With power comes responsibility. First, this newspaper must regain the courage to critically address those issues whose debate in the public sphere has hereto been an embarrassing spectacle of intellectual poverty. Second, it must intently listen to the voice of the students in order to ensure the integrity of the very dialogue that it wishes to promote. And third, its pages are to remain open to the contributions of all students, irrespective of ideologies: this paper will be useless without an inclusive exchange of mythologies.
A final note: Be assured that we are not so presumptuous as to accuse the students of fiddling while Rome burns. After all, many of us have yet to realize that the campus is burning. So let another newspaper strike up the band while this great ship sinks, we are only interested in lifeboats.
