Spring Break
CCSU editor firing causes heated debate
Kate King
Issue date: 4/16/09 Section: News
NEW BRITAIN - The firing of the opinion editor at Central Connecticut State University's student newspaper has ignited a debate between student activists and the paper's editorial board, revealing a tense relationship between minority groups on campus and The Recorder.
"Any student who has publicly opposed racism, sexism, homophobia or war need not apply for an editorial position at The Recorder," said Seth Howard, president of CCSU's Youth for Socialist Action group at a news conference held yesterday calling for the editor's reinstatement.
Opinion Editor Marissa Blaszko and staff at The Recorder have said that Blaszko was fired last month after refusing to choose between her prominent public activism, including anti-war protests and the school's Youth for Socialist Action club, and her job at the paper.
Blaszko and her supporters said her termination is a violation of freedom of speech and also a targeted reaction against her political beliefs.
"The Recorder tends to forget sometimes that they are, in fact, a student organization," said Nick Menepez, president of the Progressive Student Alliance. "To try to restrict what students do on this campus, that basically goes against the whole point of it. I really think, if it was any group other than the Youth for Socialist Action … Marissa would not be having a problem."
A petition calling for Blaszko's reinstatement at the paper has been signed by 144 people, including 34 CCSU professors and 10 student leaders.
A man who answered the door at The Recorder's office Wednesday declined to comment but referred reporters to a letter published by the paper's editorial board in its April 8 issue. The statement reaffirms the paper's decision to fire Blaszko, saying that her overt activism violated the paper's code of ethics, which seeks to separate Recorder editors from conflicts of interest in order to maintain objectivity.
"When a member of the paper, an editor no less, represents herself or himself as such in public - from rallies or protests to political events or panels - it creates the opportunity for all viewers and readers to believe that the paper has a certain leaning," the statement said. "Several times the opinion editor signed her name as such on petitions and for protests that The Recorder was not aware of, which, we believe, is absolutely grounds for firing. It was a clear violation of the code of ethics."
"Any student who has publicly opposed racism, sexism, homophobia or war need not apply for an editorial position at The Recorder," said Seth Howard, president of CCSU's Youth for Socialist Action group at a news conference held yesterday calling for the editor's reinstatement.
Opinion Editor Marissa Blaszko and staff at The Recorder have said that Blaszko was fired last month after refusing to choose between her prominent public activism, including anti-war protests and the school's Youth for Socialist Action club, and her job at the paper.
Blaszko and her supporters said her termination is a violation of freedom of speech and also a targeted reaction against her political beliefs.
"The Recorder tends to forget sometimes that they are, in fact, a student organization," said Nick Menepez, president of the Progressive Student Alliance. "To try to restrict what students do on this campus, that basically goes against the whole point of it. I really think, if it was any group other than the Youth for Socialist Action … Marissa would not be having a problem."
A petition calling for Blaszko's reinstatement at the paper has been signed by 144 people, including 34 CCSU professors and 10 student leaders.
A man who answered the door at The Recorder's office Wednesday declined to comment but referred reporters to a letter published by the paper's editorial board in its April 8 issue. The statement reaffirms the paper's decision to fire Blaszko, saying that her overt activism violated the paper's code of ethics, which seeks to separate Recorder editors from conflicts of interest in order to maintain objectivity.
"When a member of the paper, an editor no less, represents herself or himself as such in public - from rallies or protests to political events or panels - it creates the opportunity for all viewers and readers to believe that the paper has a certain leaning," the statement said. "Several times the opinion editor signed her name as such on petitions and for protests that The Recorder was not aware of, which, we believe, is absolutely grounds for firing. It was a clear violation of the code of ethics."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Mark Lause
posted 4/16/09 @ 1:09 PM EST
How absurd is that bizarre assertion of "journalistic ethics" in this day and age. The media lapdogs the government on almost everything, including the string of lies that took us to war in Iraq. (Continued…)
Stephen T. Squires
posted 4/16/09 @ 2:52 PM EST
Sorry Mark Lause, but your comments demonstrate the intoxication of lefty "cool aid." You can't be serious! WHAT? The main-stream media a "lap dog" of George Bush?? Seems to me they did everything to undermine him and his Iraq war effort (I wonder how many more of our troops may have been shot in the back because of that, in fact?),. (Continued…)
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