Headlines, newsrooms and the c-word (gasp!)

In case you were dying for the next Post post, I am terribly sorry that I have been neglecting it. There’s no excuse except that I am slacking (who would have thought that running a newspaper and going to school could be time consuming?). I will definitely be better about writing these when the new Web site is unleashed in a couple weeks … and this blog will hopefully be a regular feature! Until then though, I shouldn’t leave my three Post fans hanging, so here are some highlights of the last few weeks that were exciting, at least to us:

Headlines that predict the future
In the Thursday, March 1, story Athens officer to resign amid investigation, the headline in the paper was “Athens officer to resign over investigation.” Basically, the headline was presumptuous, implying that the officer resigned because of the investigation, when it was never actually stated that he was resigning because of the investigation. But the next day it was confirmed that this was the reason. So while we were preparing to run a correction, the headline became true.

We decided not to run a correction (although some disagreed and a couple journalism professors thought we could go either way), mostly because it would just be superfluous words. Plus, we can change headlines on the Web site pretty easily, and that’s really where the archives live. I talked to several journalism professors about it, and one of them said he’d never seen anything like that happen in all his years in the newspaper business. As writer (and now Associate Editor) Matt Zapotosky said, “Copy editors are fortune tellers.”

Our new digs
We spent a lot of Winter Quarter settling into our new digs and getting irritable with each other in an enclosed area. At least if we had to spend so much time indoors with one another, we didn’t have to smell the sewer anymore. Most of the time, we have a lot of fun. Check out the newsroom, and I’ll post more pictures throughout the quarter (I have a feeling Post graduates are going to be really jealous of our new plasma TV):

A lot of people are probably wasting time in the newsroom (left). Editor Brittany Kress chats in our office (right), as our precious plants freeze in the windowsill.

The c-word
We definitely kicked off Spring Quarter last week by having one of our long budget meetings. This time we discussed whether to use the word “cunt.” A columnist wanted to call her column “Cuntservative” or something along those lines. Originally, Zapotosky had told her she couldn’t, but then he realized she was making a point with it, and so he brought it to the attention of the other editors.

As a women’s studies student, I know that the word “cunt” has a lot of controversy — for instance, some women are trying to reclaim the traditionally derogatory word. It definitely has some value in sociological discourse. But on the other hand, we realize it is an offensive word.

To keep this post from being too much of my philosophical rant about journalism (and gender representation), I will say that we decided it would be OK to use the word in this instance. The whole room of editors was pretty split, but the executive editors decided we would for the following reasons:

• It captured the tone of the column
• It wasn’t used frivolously, but rather to prove a point
• It was on the opinion page
• It was provocative and fits our college audience
• We had run it before for similar reasons: a commentary from Ashley Herzog criticizing The Vagina Monologues. (Monologues’ not true to feminisim) and in a letter rebutting it (Writer’s ‘Monologues’ appraisal misguided)

Of course the columnist decided she didn’t want to use the c-word after all. But I still decided to tell the story. I’d love to hear any thoughts about the decision, even though it was never carried through.

A few initiatives to look forward to this quarter:

• More localization: You read The Post to know what’s going on in this bubble we live in, and we want to keep it focused on the here and now.
• A new Web site to be unveiled soon: So be prepared to see some cool new features.
• Some sweet series, including profiles of “who to know in 2007-08”: If you have any ideas for graduates that are making a difference (and not just your “saving cats and trees” stuff), please let us know.

I know I’m gushing, but I can’t help it.