EDUCATION: Vulgarity vs. Free Speech

On Sept. 21, Colorado State University's student newspaper The Rocky Mountain Collegian ran an editorial with the message "Taser this...F*** Bush" in the space where a 600-word editorial should have been. The newspaper's editors wrote the message in response to the Sept. 18 incident at the Univ. of Florida where a student was tasered by police at a forum featuring Sen. John Kerry. According to the New York Times, the campus paper "ran a news article on its front page that discussed free speech regulations on college campuses, as well as the disputed attack."

The paper's editor-in-chief, J. David McSwane, has vowed that he will not resign, but school supervisors are meeting this week to decide whether he should be fired for agreeing to publish the message. According to the New York Times, "the board plans to consider whether the language violated the newspaper’s code of ethics, specifically the provision that 'profane and vulgar words are not acceptable for opinion writing.'"

In a letter to the public in defense of his decision, McSwane wrote: “We feel this statement, albeit unpopular, was necessary in communicating our opinion that it’s time college students challenge the current political climate and speak out."

Since the editorial was published, advertisers have pulled $30,000 worth of ads, student pay has been cut and the paper’s reputation has suffered. The message was obviously meant to be an expression of free speech, but was it worth it?

I believe college student newspaper writers and editors, like every other American, have the right to free speech. But in this case, there are a million other ways the editors could have expressed their opinions without putting the university's reputation and newspaper's integrity on the line. The four-word message wasn't accompanied by an written explanation and I believe they could have gotten their point across much more effectively by way of a traditional editorial. The bold, unnecessarily vulgar headline likely left readers confused and annoyed rather than impressed and, in my opinion, simply gives the newspaper a lack of credibility.

For college newspapers, I believe there are better ways to champion free speech without putting the university’s reputation, fellow staff members’ jobs and the newspaper’s integrity on the line.

-Lisa