For the second time this school year, The Cavalier Daily has run into trouble by printing a cartoon lambasted as racially or religiously offensive. And, for the second time, the problem lies in the quality of the cartoon. The meanings of both cartoons were unclear, contributing to the editorial decisions to run them.
On Oct. 23, 2005, the paper ran a cartoon deemed racially insensitive. This time, Meng Tan's "Redux," which ran Feb. 23, portrayed the judges on American Idol transformed into religious stereotypes of Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, judging a golden calf singing on a show "Pagan Idol." A black box blocked the Islamic character's face as he exhorted, "You will burn in Hell along with everyone watching this show."
The Islamic character could be interpreted as a play on the Muhammed cartoon controversy, which began after a Danish newspaper printed cartoons of the prophet, urging artists to depict him as they saw him.
When choosing whether to run Redux, which was flagged as being potentially offensive, Editor-in-Chief Michael Slaven said his primary concern lay with censorship.
"I am very reluctant to censor people who have columns or comic strips," Slaven wrote in an e-mail. "I looked over it briefly and assumed that the use of such imagery was in the service of making a serious political point about the recent protests surrounding the depictions of Mohammed. ... I accord a higher level of protection to speech intended to make political or social points than to speech intended as joke."
Later, however, he found out the cartoonist simply was lampooning American Idol, not making a political statement. Slaven said he should have found out what exactly the cartoon meant.
The following Tuesday, the paper ran an apology. The decision to print the apology lies ultimately with the editor-in-chief, and is based on two factors: serious editorial oversight and evident harm.
I am glad the issue was dealt with promptly yet thoughtfully, and I agree with the decision to make an apology, which is a very rare event for a newspaper.
Unfortunately, the clarity of the cartoon once again was the reason for the mistake. If the editor-in-chief was mistaken over the intent of the cartoonist, how could the public possibly be expected to understand? When I first saw it, I didn't think it was funny either way, whether it was poking fun at American Idol or reaction to the Danish cartoons.
Cartoonists and editors must be sure that their message is accurate and readily understandable. After all, what good is humor and a bright idea if nobody gets it?
Statistics and numbers
A news story isn't really a story without evidence to back it up. The best evidence is hard numbers, percentages, statistics. But statistics alone cannot prove a point.
For instance, in an article on Feb. 28 about faculty retirement numbers, the paper reported that about a fifth of the University's faculty will retire over the next 10 years. The article was thorough and well-written, looking at all aspects of the effects this will have, from budgeting to competition for faculty to diversity.
However, as I was reading it, I couldn't help but wonder how this differed from any previous decades. Is this really so abnormal for a fifth of a possibly perpetually older-than-usual employment pool? Let's face it, academia isn't brimming with 23-year-old professors.
While the reportage might have been there in the background, it wasn't in the story for readers to see. When numbers are not put in the proper context, given the proper comparison, they are almost meaningless.
If the numbers of retirees aren't, in fact, so much of a deviation from the past, then you don't have a story. But if they are, at least show us, the readers, how much of a deviation so we have a full idea of the impact. If hard numbers aren't available, quote someone knowledgeable about the anecdotal or perceived affect.
Similarly, on the same day the paper ran a story about American students' math and science test scores being below the international average.
But hasn't this been the butt of jokes for years now? Is it really such a shock that America lags behind other countries?
The story had a lot of interesting information about the test itself, but unfortunately it did not nail the news angle. University Prof. and Math Department Chair Ira Herbst said it himself: "This is a well-known fact about math and science education in the elementary, middle and high schools."
News outlets sometimes struggle to put the new back in news. Look for an angle of any sort; look beyond just the sheer numbers. Maybe something's changing in a certain demographic. Maybe the Americans are catching up or lagging even further behind. Look for evidence of a more interesting story just below the surface.
Numbers can be tricky, but playing them right can make for a really interesting and informative story.
Lisa Fleisher is the Cavalier Daily ombudsman. She can be reached at ombud@cavalierdaily.com
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