College Paper Editorial Board: "Our Editorials Suck; We Quit"

In a bold and principled move that I hope dailies both college and professional study and contemplate, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Daily Illini announces that because several of its editorials were "based on faulty facts, providing nothing but misinformation and misrepresentation," it has decided to stop running editorials entirely.

[Via the always indispensable Romenesko.]

Comments

Mark VIII | September 25, 2006, 10:57am | #

Phew. I, for one, will sleep better tonight. It's good to know that in this crazy, crazy world, there are people out there who will give up their voluntary positions on college newspapers in the name of truth.

Put it there partner.

John Palchak | September 25, 2006, 11:01am | #

Proud I am, yes, proud as an Illinois alum to see that the DI editorial board finally did what we've long hoped-for and long-feared that similar boards on college newspapers around the country would also do: shut the hell up.

Timothy | September 25, 2006, 11:02am | #

It's good to know your own limitations.

John | September 25, 2006, 11:04am | #

Best of the web has a feature called "Spot the Idiot" where they reprint some outragously stupid left wing editorial or letter to the editor. The editorials almost always come from college newspapers. Good for the old Illini for admitting the obvious and sparing the world these opinions.

Terrorific | September 25, 2006, 11:07am | #

Now, if only the rest of them would say, "Our newspapers suck, pussyfoot around the administration, and cater to minorities and groupthink. We quit."

Terrorific | September 25, 2006, 11:10am | #

Oh.....and I used to write editorials for my college paper when I was still kinda statist, but will never live it down now that anyone who Google's my name finds my juvenile scribblings. The anti-MLK day piece was good though....

It sucks being the only person on the net with my name.

Yogi | September 25, 2006, 12:06pm | #

I forwarded this story to the editor of University of Iowa's Daily Iowan. They are equally as bad. Today's editorial was how they thought the police should patrol residential areas more on football Saturdays instead of dealing with the massive crowds downtown. It wasn't so much the position they took but the total incomprehensible and unorganized way they defended it. They even said "imbibing (alcohol) is a privilege, not a right", as if Uncle Sam was doing us such a great favor by allowing us to drink.

Yogi | September 25, 2006, 12:12pm | #

I wonder if their football team will quit now too?

Matthew | September 25, 2006, 12:17pm | #

Maybe we can get Michael Moore and Ann Coulter to get jobs there so they can be shut down? Just a thought.

Dan T. | September 25, 2006, 12:19pm | #

Why is this such a great and bold move?

If they have run some editiorials based on misinformation, why not increase efforts to make sure future editorials are not? Especially considering that the point of a student newspaper is to help students learn to become journalists.

Mark | September 25, 2006, 12:27pm | #

Easily the best part about this is that, as a U of I undergrad, my first thought had been "Too bad it won't be the DI."

David Ross | September 25, 2006, 1:06pm | #

Dan T. - RTFA.

That's exactly what they've promised to do: go on hiatus, overhaul their editorial process, and then come back in a few weeks.

Dan T. | September 25, 2006, 1:48pm | #

Hey, tell Brian Doherty to RTFA. I was just going by what he told us: "it has decided to stop running editorials entirely."

gaijin | September 25, 2006, 1:53pm | #

I was just going by what he told us...

Dan T: Bahahahahah.

Chuck | September 25, 2006, 2:06pm | #

If newspapers cut out their editorials there'd be nothing left.

Oh, wait, you mean just the pieces that are labeled as editorials. Never Mind.

Ammonium | September 25, 2006, 8:36pm | #

Just a few months ago, the Daily Illini canned their editor for running cartoons. I haven't heard anything about the new editor being fired. Apparently shutting down the editorial page isn't as embarrassing as standing up for free speech.

Ammonium | September 25, 2006, 8:36pm | #

Just a few months ago, the Daily Illini canned their editor for running cartoons. I haven't heard anything about the new editor being fired. Apparently shutting down the editorial page isn't as embarrassing as standing up for free speech.

Grand Chalupa | September 25, 2006, 11:38pm | #

On a completly unrelated topic I am trying to apply to U of I right now and getting troubleshooting help with their website takes FOREVER. Any private company with this kind of service would've gone out of business a long time ago.

Little things like this remind me of why I'm a libertarian.