Readers and writers of the Nutcracker, this isn't much of an article as it is a long winded question. I "hear" an underlying negative magnetic flow through various writer's and responder's musings on this website towards the Acorn.
My question is, simply- Why? Have many/any of you submitted articles to the Acorn only to have them ____________, which was so very wrong in your point of view? (You can fill in the blank for me). I'd like to open up a discussion about this general opposition to one of the (from what I know) hardest working, ever pressured, and consistently degraded student group on campus. Yet, despite the anger and biting (rather than constructive) criticism they receive daily by their peers, they report for duty into the wee hours of the nights. Nights we spend drinking to our hearts desire, getting that coveted ass, or maybe studying for that exam. Those are luxuries few editors are able to receive.
How much do all of you know about journalism? Do you know what the University limits the Acorn to? When and if you submit an article, have you optioned to have them go over the editing process with you? Have any of you approached members of the Acorn staff with your qualms? Where, in your mind, are you justified in your attacks?
Like any group on campus, I know the Acorn suffers from lack of interest and participation. In the paper, I see the same writers every week. How do we expect them to improve if we aren't giving them any help? I especially love the letters to the editor. They're always an interesting read.
Where I came from, the newspaper was everything. On most campuses, the newspaper is a cause for controversy, as it should be. It tells you what's going on, whether you like it or not. And misquotations, sure they suck, yet how quick can you jot down a conversation, getting every last word? Even on a recorder, it's very hard to hear. Also, most campuses pay their newspaper staff, offer them credits for their hard work, give them a stipend, etc. I know the Acorn is self motivated, with fairly little help from the University.
I don't think a community should ever cut its major source of communication slack, but I do believe a lot of effort is wasted in complaining rather than in improving. Why do you criticize the Acorn with such disdain? And why aren't you using your energy to write something productive? Something that maybe you can take pride in? You can't claim an anonymous posting on a blog, but a clipping of an article you wrote is much more rewarding. I am all for improving our newspaper. After all, Drew isn't getting any better, and we all know that.
I'm just worried our priorities are out of line, and that the student body is turning into quite the complaining, narcissistic and self righteous bunch. It's very easy to criticize. And we all enjoy our defense mechanisms. But, first the SGA, now the Acorn. What are we going to take down next? The GLBTQ? Act Out? Rugby?
Where's the love?
-Prince Ali
11 comments:
This is NOT a message from the Acorn.
I am a student unaffiliated and I am EXTREMELY angry that you would assume as such.
BRING BACK THE CROSSWORD PUZZLE.
Well there wouldn’t be any need for this blog if the 1 or 2, often minimized and censored, student opinion articles in the Acorn were enough in the first place. In fact, if you think about it, the only significant sources of student opinion in the Acorn each week comes from that huge editorial page (the one with the cartoon) authored anonymously by the Acorn’s Chief Editor each week. Now that doesn’t account for the real student voice? But unfortunately, it’s one of the only on campus.
And my suggestion is, why not try to open up the Acorn more? Students are now responding to the very closed and restrictive nature of student life at Drew. If the head position of the Acorn (as well as other major student organizations) were opened up to a student wide vote each year, at least the student body could elect someone who they could trust to include them if they chose to occasionally write opinions articles or even investigative news articles. Right now, the Acorn is less the student's voice and more the anonymous opinions of its Chief Editor in each week's editorial page.
As it stands, the Acorn is just another protected "group" of friends on campus and no doubt a very powerful one as Student Activities won't fund any competing publications whatsoever.
And for the record, I have been censored, and more, from the Acorn. But no hard feelings.
I'm pretty sure the Acorn's chief editor doesn't write the huge editorial page, their staff box says it's the opinion of the whole staff. Electing an editor is the dumbest thing ever - the newspaper deserves an editor who knows how newspapers work in order to run one. Would you want the captain of a sports team be a non-athlete or vote the president of Drew Habitat as someone who isn't invested in Habitat for Humanity? As it stands, anyone has the option of submitting news or opinions pieces....just contact the editors. That's how I got involved two years ago and no one has censored me. Does anyone here actually understand what censorship is? The editors edit... that's their job. If you don't like it, try sumbitting something to a professional newspaper and see if it gets changed.
Im sure the students would pick someone who has experience either with the Acorn or from their own highschool newspaper. That shouldn't really be an issue.
The one difference with your example is the fact that the Acorn is the ONLY major student publication for the entire Drew community. And students here pay for each issue of the Acorn whether they want to read it or not. Shouldn't the Acorn then have some responsiblity towards reaching out and adequetly printing the general student voice in the publiciation? And like I said before, the only major section that includes opinions is found on the big editorial page with the cartoon and that's still mainly authored by the one person from the Acorn.
Maybe another suggestion would be to offer that major editorial page to one of the students who submits a well thought out editorial for the week. Really highlight the student opinions there by going beyond the usual crew of editors from the Acorn.
its not so much that i agree with anonymous #1, but in a supposed election of an editor, a few good people would run, not every cant-spell chemistry major (nothing against chem majors, i'm considering it myself). and i dont think someone not interested in editing and who didnt think they could do a good job would run. whatever.
and hey, article writer, maybe you SHOULD be affiliated with the Acorn, you seem more eloquent than a few of their writers.
As an administrator of this site, i'd like to say that this website is not an attack on the acorn or the people who work hard to have it printed. We are merely trying to provide an alternative. We aim to make it easier for people to express their views with the least amount of censorship. Obviously we do have to read over things before we post them just to make sure it is "relatively" appropriate. We are just trying somethig new. We set this up for EVERYONE. All we ask is that you contribute. If you dont like this blog so far, MAKE IT BETTER.
if this isn't an attack on the acorn, what's with your logo?
furthermore, the opinions section (which consists of more than the one page with the cartoon) is open to anyone and everyone for the submission of editorials. if you notice, the acorn occasionally puts little boxes in the corner of the pages that say, "want to write for the acorn? submit articles and letters to..."
i know that i have definitely submitted articles, along with friends of mine, that have only been censored due to length. yes it makes people upset or frustrated, but as someone who has recently gone through the publishing process at work, welcome to the world of editing!
it is impossible for your first draft of something to make it in, but you should have the option of seeing the edited article and then choosing whether or not you want your name attached to it after it has gone through the process.
try writing an article and submitting it to the Acorn. If it is relevant and written intelligently you have a pretty good shot of getting published.
Also, don't have have writers that put out like bi-weekly opinions articles about whatever they want? And if you complain to them that something isn't getting covered or write a letter critiquing something else they have published you have a good shot of getting in there too.
The Acorn also has a website, but they may only post the articles that make it into the paper. Maybe they should have additional articles on their website.
Not gonna lie... I like the Acorn (if you can't tell). I wouldn't miss an issue, and I feel that most people on campus pick it up and bring it to dinner on Friday or Brunch the following days. I look forward to what they will talk about next and I think they consistantly (maybe not every time) have a good sense about what is going on with the student body.
Your definition of censorship is getting on my nerves. Cutting an article due to length is NOT censorship, it is editing. Censorship is cutting CONTENT (not extraneous length) out of an article because it is disagreeable to the dogma of an institution. The Acorn is a club, not an institution; it does not follow any sort of doctrine. It has printed some rather bold (borderline offensive) articles in the past, and did so because the article represented the opinion of a member of the student body. The Acorn does what a school newspaper is supposed to do, and you all seem to think it does not.
From Webster:
Main Entry: censor
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): cen·sored; cen·sor·ing /'sen(t)-s&-ri[ng], 'sen(t)s-ri[ng]/
: to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable "censor the news" ;also : to suppress or delete as objectionable "censor out indecent passages"
There is a huge difference between censorship and editing.
If you're going to accuse anyone of censoring, you might as well learn the correct use of the term.
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