This week we will be exploring editorial writing. If you have been following the news in the last few days, you have undoubtedly heard about the crisis engulfing Penn State University in the wake of a sex scandal involving a former football coach. One Pennsylvania newspaper, The Patriot-News, took the highly unusual step of running a full page editorial on its front page calling for the resignation of Penn State's president. Click here to read about the trend of front page editorials.The day after that editorial ran, the board of trustees at Penn State held an emergency meeting and decided to immediately fire the school's president and legendary football coach Joe Paterno. Paterno has NOT been charged with any crime but has come under a firestorm of criticism for failing to report his colleague's alleged sexual abuse of young boys to the police. Check out a pair of local opinion columns about Paterno's firing from sports columnists Mitch Albom and Drew Sharp, both of the Detroit Free Press.
Finally, one side note: Actor Ashton Kutcher committed an act of idiocy when he tweeted his support of Joe Paterno before he even knew why Paterno was let go. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course, but opinions must be based on fact, not ignorance.
Creative Commons photo by Joe Shlabotnik.
I did not follow this scandal closely, and therefore, was a little confused reading this blog post. I became more informed after reading the articles attached. Ashton Kutcher on the other hand, was not informed, but continued to speak his opinion ignorantly. Some might call him stupid, naive or an idiot, but I would say it's a common mistake. Although I do not support his mistake, I refrain from calling him names. But second chances are not in order for his case (giving up tweeting) or for Penn State's President and Joe Paterno (both have been excused for obvious reasons).
ReplyDeleteI feel that The Patriot-News shouldn't have made the entire front page an editorial because some people who read the paper might have wanted Joe Paterno to be fired. The newspaper took such a strong stand saying that he should finish the season that those who believe otherwise might stop reading The Patriot-News altogether. I feel that making the front page an editorial could hurt the company. With Ashton Kutcher I am really surprised he hadn't heard why Joe Paterno was fired. It was all over the internet, in the papers and on TV. It would've been very hard to miss it.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with Eileen that The Patriot-News shouldn't have made the front page an editorial. People have their own opinions and like Eileen said if they disagree they may stop reading the paper. Opinions should be heard but not ones that are not based on fact like Ashton Kutcher's. I was surprised that he made such a common mistake.
ReplyDeleteI think it was pretty risky of The Patriot-News to do a full editorial on their front page of the paper, especially on such a touchy issue that has recently caused so much disagreement. If a full front page of a newspaper is biased towards one side of an issue as big as this, many people who are in favor of the other side of the argument will get mad. Also, the front page of a newspaper is sometimes all an individual will look at, because it usually contains the best information and the biggest stories. Based on how The Patriot-News has clearly taken sides on this Penn State issue, the public reading just the front page could make opinions not in favor of this publication. I would not be surprised if The Patriot-News gets some nasty comments about what they have said.
ReplyDeleteOn the actual issue:
I like what Mitch Albom said at the end of his story:
"So if we need a national discussion, let's talk about what makes a child molester, the signs, the potential safeguards, and how do sports with their locker rooms and intimate camaraderie foster potential abuse?"
I think Albom makes a great point here. Many news stories are talking more about how this great ex-coach is getting fired than the real issue here: molestation of kids. That is the issue; that is the terrible reality, not Paterno getting fired. Obviously Paterno has gone down in Penn State history because of all his work with the team, but I don't think the public should be so entirely focused on what has happened to his career. I don't really know which side I take on the issue of his career. Obviously he should have gone to the police about this issue, but I don't know if the media should be criticizing him so much. This publicity for him is causing the main tragedy of what happened to the eight boys in 2002 to not be dealt with in a way that I think is acceptable.
Stories like this just make me lose hope in humanity. To start off, the crime suspected by Joe Sandusky is terrible. To think of all the poor little boys that could have been affected by this sickens me. Secondly, it makes me sad to think that not only did Joe Paterno choose not to take the allegations with more seriousness, but that he will be ending a great career on such a sour note. Lastly, the fact that celebrities are able to broadcast to millions with uninformed opinions is upsetting.
ReplyDeleteThe idea to go with a full page editorial was very risky, but I do believe it paid off in the end. The Patriot News took a stance shared by many and broadcast-ed it for the world to see. It was a risky move, but since so many people shared the opinion I believe they were able to pull it off. It would be a different story I believe if the topic was on something such as the war in Iraq, a very controversial topic.
Lastly, I agree with Mitch Albom in that although what Joe Paterno did was not right, more focus should be put on the actual alleged pedophile, Joe Sandusky. The only reason Joe Paterno is being blamed for this incident is because he is better known and was in a power of position to stop what was happening, and chose against doing much.
I agree with previous comments about the unfairness of putting an editorial on the front page. I feel as though newspapers are there to give us unbiased facts, one of the foundations of good journalism. Denouncing Joe Paterno so obviously made me feel a little bit uncertain about this. I almost felt bad for Paterno simply because this article made it seem as though he was being targeted by the media unfairly.
ReplyDeleteWhile I personally agree with the decision to fire Paterno for certain reasons, I think Mitch Albom that the focus should be on Sandusky. He is the true criminal and should ultimately be held accountable for his crimes.
I haven't really been following this story closely (and I don't really follow football), so I was a little confused, like Sydney, but I think I have the gist of it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous comments about putting an editorial on the front page. I think it's a little unfair to put somebody's opinion on the front page, which I think is strictly reserved for hard news stories. I don't know. Maybe it was a slow week in terms of hard-hitting news.
Anyway, I almost feel bad for Paterno, but at the same time, I remember that he knew about this and failed to report it directly to the police. It sickens me to think of how many people were affected by this, and it could have stopped if Paterno had simply done what was right. I also think Albom should focus on Sandusky, but Paterno was clearly in the wrong, as well.
I feel that running a front-page editorial was very risky, and considering there are so many different opinions in this case, it was not a good choice. People read newspapers to get hard news, not to get opinions on something they could have an opposing opinion on.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard for me to form my thoughts on this scandal, because I definitely feel that Paterno's indecision should have cost him his job, because that is inexcusable. But, to fire him in the middle of the season is very unfair to the Penn State football players. They put so much effort and hard work into the football program, and to have their coach fired in the middle of the season, and have them possibly forfeit the rest of their season, is very unfair to them. They should be able to finish the season strong, especially due to their success in the Big Ten this season.
I think that the Patriot-News was brave to run that feature story on their front page. It was a way for the students to express their feelings about what was going on at Penn. State. Their article also allowed people from the outside of Penn. State to see how the students had been affected by this awful scandal. Event though some people believe that the paper's decision was brash,I think that it was very well though out and they were right to do what they did. And although they might not have expected it to have such awesome effects, such as the board of directors of the school firing the president, they did take a stand for what they think is right which is what journalism is all about.
ReplyDeleteJust to clear up a few things . . . The full page editorial appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Students did NOT write or publish the editorial. Nor did the paper run this editorial because it was a slow news week or to irritate their readers, although they may have angered some of their readers.
ReplyDeleteI think many of you are failing to see the big picture here concerning the front page editorial. This story is SO big, SO disturbing, that the editors of the Post Gazette felt they had a responsibility to devote a full page to urging the university to take action.
That is the power of the press. The full page editorial is a bit controversial I suppose, but largely admirable for a for-profit publication to stand up and voice what it feels needs to be said -- sacrificing potential news space, advertising dollars and possibly reader loyalty in the process. Newspapers not only report the news; they have a sacred duty to take a position on controversial matters that affect their readers.
I think it makes it less controversial that this newspaper is from Pittsburgh, where all of these issues have been going on. This really shows how strongly the editors, writers, etc. feel about this case. Even though I am sure the Patriot-News knew the potential downsides to creating an entire front page spread such as this, I think their "pros," namely being the need to get this information out to the people of Pittsburgh and the rest of the nation, were more important to this publication.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, I find it admirable that they dared to publish this piece on the front page.
I am very impressed with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for putting up a full page editorial; they took a risk to make sure that a strong moral issue was being addressed. I agree with several people that it was a way to potentially lose readers, but sometimes doing what is right is not always easy or profitable.
ReplyDelete