A letter from the editor ...
Amanda Seef
Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: Campus Talk
From the editor,
Perhaps the first 2010 edition of The Stylus came as a shock to you. We debuted our new columnist, Miss Dirty Deed, and her appearance has caused some ruckus.
A sex column in a college newspaper is not new, nor is it commonplace. Some of the most prestigious and conservative college campuses have been printing them for years - many sprouting after "Sex and the City" became so popular. But many college newspapers also shy away from the idea, in favor of newsier approaches. The Stylus has held a commitment to the students of this campus since 1914, and a sex column will not change that commitment.
Ultimately, as editor-in-chief, I am responsible for the content and reputation of the paper and I take full responsibility for both in light of the recent column. We're a student newspaper, written for and by students. It would be na've to think that students aren't talking about, or having, sex. However, we did cross the line with the most recent column. The content was graphic and used some language that was perhaps too daring for The College at Brockport community. Publishing a sex column is trial and error - you can rarely accurately estimate what is correct for your particular audience when it comes to something so sensitive. Our first edition was over the line, but we are not discontinuing the column. An emergency editorial board meeting was held last week to discuss the options surrounding the column.
Ultimately, the staff decided the column should be more "PG-13" rather than "R," and that is how we will better target the column to the college community. We will tone down the language, but keep the general format of the column. When it all boils down, our target audience is males and females aged 18 to 24, and that's who our columns will be written for.
That being said, I understand the column will still have objectionable material. Some weeks will be more edgly than others but will still be a space devoted to sex. Some will see it as using sex as entertainment. However, please note that this is not the intention. The intention was to craft a piece that would bring about a well-talked about topic of campus life and be able to write about it openly in the campus newspaper. It was not for shock value, increasing the number of readers or anything of the sort - though when choosing the column topic, it was understood that shock, entertained and angry readers would all appear by Wednesday afternoon.
I think the staff, and campus, should be proud that we have a student newspaper that can evoke such a mass amount of conversation - be it encouragement or criticism.
No, it's not hard-hitting journalism. In fact, I would barely consider sex columns journalism, it's merely opinion writing. And like all opinion stories, you can agree or disagree with it. You can hold an opinion on the language, content, premise or anything of the sorts for the sex column. Your opinion will be heard and addressed. We can always make our content better, but we won't know how until we hear from you.
There will be an anonymous poll (which doesn't track IP addresses) at www.thestylus.net. It will be attached to this article, and this week's installment of The Dirty Duo. Vote for how you feel about seeing the column in the paper. We will continue to weigh on our student opinion in future weeks. And as always, please send any suggestions for improvement. We'd like to think we're perfect, but we all know that's far from the case.
Perhaps the first 2010 edition of The Stylus came as a shock to you. We debuted our new columnist, Miss Dirty Deed, and her appearance has caused some ruckus.
A sex column in a college newspaper is not new, nor is it commonplace. Some of the most prestigious and conservative college campuses have been printing them for years - many sprouting after "Sex and the City" became so popular. But many college newspapers also shy away from the idea, in favor of newsier approaches. The Stylus has held a commitment to the students of this campus since 1914, and a sex column will not change that commitment.
Ultimately, as editor-in-chief, I am responsible for the content and reputation of the paper and I take full responsibility for both in light of the recent column. We're a student newspaper, written for and by students. It would be na've to think that students aren't talking about, or having, sex. However, we did cross the line with the most recent column. The content was graphic and used some language that was perhaps too daring for The College at Brockport community. Publishing a sex column is trial and error - you can rarely accurately estimate what is correct for your particular audience when it comes to something so sensitive. Our first edition was over the line, but we are not discontinuing the column. An emergency editorial board meeting was held last week to discuss the options surrounding the column.
Ultimately, the staff decided the column should be more "PG-13" rather than "R," and that is how we will better target the column to the college community. We will tone down the language, but keep the general format of the column. When it all boils down, our target audience is males and females aged 18 to 24, and that's who our columns will be written for.
That being said, I understand the column will still have objectionable material. Some weeks will be more edgly than others but will still be a space devoted to sex. Some will see it as using sex as entertainment. However, please note that this is not the intention. The intention was to craft a piece that would bring about a well-talked about topic of campus life and be able to write about it openly in the campus newspaper. It was not for shock value, increasing the number of readers or anything of the sort - though when choosing the column topic, it was understood that shock, entertained and angry readers would all appear by Wednesday afternoon.
I think the staff, and campus, should be proud that we have a student newspaper that can evoke such a mass amount of conversation - be it encouragement or criticism.
No, it's not hard-hitting journalism. In fact, I would barely consider sex columns journalism, it's merely opinion writing. And like all opinion stories, you can agree or disagree with it. You can hold an opinion on the language, content, premise or anything of the sorts for the sex column. Your opinion will be heard and addressed. We can always make our content better, but we won't know how until we hear from you.
There will be an anonymous poll (which doesn't track IP addresses) at www.thestylus.net. It will be attached to this article, and this week's installment of The Dirty Duo. Vote for how you feel about seeing the column in the paper. We will continue to weigh on our student opinion in future weeks. And as always, please send any suggestions for improvement. We'd like to think we're perfect, but we all know that's far from the case.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
James
posted 2/06/10 @ 10:30 PM EST
The column isn't objectionable because of its content, it's objectionable because it's pointless and takes up valuable ad space.
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