As journalists, our profession requires us to be unbiased and impartial. Sometimes we have to stifle our personal opinions in the interest of the public and our own integrity. Luckily, for those who cannot restrain their creative, opinionated and sometimes controversial voices, there is something called the opinion section. In The Post, we publish columns, cartoons, editorials and letters on our opinion page, like many newspapers across the country.
Unless otherwise noted by a memo of sorts that reads, “Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors,” columns that appear on page two present opinions that are held by the columnist alone. A single columnist’s opinion should never be misunderstood as a representation of the viewpoint of an entire publication and its staff members.
Readers appeared to ignore this basic journalistic principle when they responded to Ryan McAndrew’s Feb. 25 column, “The secret life of the American college bro.” As a member of the Greek community, Ryan’s column — though it was meant to be humorous — bothered me, but he is entitled to his own opinion, just as everyone who read the column was permitted to disagree with it.
What really angered me was the level of criticism heaped upon not the column itself, but The Post as a whole. The words “The Post” and “a joke” were paired together far too frequently, and I was disappointed to see just how widespread that criticism was.
I’ve been working with this newspaper for four years. I’ve devoted countless days, turned in too many late assignments and lost immeasurable hours of sleep as a consequence of my employment, but I wouldn’t change any of that. My Post experience has gotten me an internship that spanned two summers, and it has also given me the pleasure of sharing a newsroom with some of the most hardworking and dedicated people I’ve ever met.
I challenge anyone who thinks The Post is merely a publication that is biased and vindictive toward fraternities and sororities to review some of the articles we’ve published that focus on Greek philanthropy and community service events. Most recently, Bare on the Bricks garnered a front-page spot in our paper, and we also wrote about the Polar Bear Plunge. In the past, reporters have written about Alpha Delta Pi’s Mr. University pageant and Lambda Chi Alpha’s Car Smash, among others. The positive aspects of Greek life are not ignored by The Post.
Our editors and staff members alike strive for professionalism, but editors cannot withhold opinion pieces just because they’ll ruffle people’s feathers. On the contrary, one of the challenges that newspapers such as The Post are confronted with is generating responses from the audience, which Ryan’s column masterfully did.
However, the opinion of one shouldn’t be interpreted as the opinion of many. An award-winning publication whose staff members stay cooped up in a windowless newsroom in Baker University Center until 4 or 5 a.m. day after day in order to provide the student body with a daily source of news does not deserve to be referred to as a joke.
Jess Cohen is the copy chief of The Post. Email her at jc168808@ohiou.edu.
