DISCLAIMER: Article part of Old Black & Blue
By: PC Police
After a four hour meeting in the Publications room in Dupre—after couches were flipped, coffee spilled on laptops and Campus Safety was called to break up a fistfight—the Old Gold and Black newspaper, which has been in print for 102 years, will no longer edit against bias, unfairness and political incorrectness. The vote, 16-15, was broken by the newly instated Editor-in-Chief for the 2017-2018 school year and member of Delta Iota Kappa fraternity, Al T. Right.
It’s a move that proponents say champions free speech on campus, after critics of the paper complained of “tiresome political correctness” and that their voices and opinions were not reflected by articles on racial tensions, gender studies programs and human rights issues programming at Wofford. Proponents say it will also take Wofford back to its “traditional” roots, such as when white males were the only students or faculty members on campus.
Some staff writers are upset by this ruling, claiming that vulnerable groups and people will be unprotected and even targeted by the press, causing journalistic credibility to decline. “We’ve won tons of awards from the South Carolina Press Association for our work, and I seriously doubt this trend will continue if we publish the trash I fear will be published next year,” says junior Isa Fairwriter.
The paper expects to see an increase in both paid and contributing writers next year, including members of fraternal organizations who have felt victimized by the paper in years past. Some veteran writers, like Fairwriter, are already planning to use their newfound freedoms to get revenge on the very people who voted for the change:
“These idiots don’t realize that political correctness and unbiased reporting protects them, too,” she says. “Now, I don’t get to just use quotes from entitled rich white boys demonstrating their jackassery, but I get to call them whatever I want and whatever I think they deserve, making opinion into fact. But in reality, that’s a huge problem.”
Freshman contributing writer and newly initiated member of Delta Iota Kappa Jimmy A. Beer doesn’t understand why anyone would oppose the new direction the paper is taking, since it would “only increase readership”:
“Can you imagine the conversation this will spark on campus, when something exciting or controversial gets printed? The fair and balanced version just doesn’t cut it anymore—I want to be able to write about the administration screwing us over without having to be respectful just for propriety’s sake. That’s old news,” he says.
Editor Right claims that while political correctness is commendable for protecting society’s vulnerable, it “also unfortunately stifles the ability of others to speak about these people,” and that this silencing of racism, homophobia, sexism and xenophobia in speech is harmful to those in positions of power.
“For example, some conservative ideals have been stifled for far too long, especially when these ideas hurt minority groups or dehumanize other humans, and that’s just so sad to see bright ideas get denied or even left unvoiced due to the possibility of a classmate condemning the idea with actual logic,” he says. “I’m proud to lead the Terriers into this new era of politically incorrect news reporting. Wofford will rise again!”
DISCLAIMER: Article part of Old Black & Blue
