Rape article ensues more pain to victims

The Recorder, a student newspaper at Central Connecticut State University, recently has caused several students raging anger and pain because of their "satirical" article about rape. Editors of the paper claim the article was expected to be interpreted in a lighter manner across campus.

While reading about this tragic journalism mishap, I failed to find any information that the opinion editor was even remotely trying to bring attention to the issue of how women can protect or stop themselves from being a victim of rape. The whole article basically listed how rape benefits the victims, especially fat and ugly women. If anything, the only message the editor seemed to get across was that the victims ask for it.

In a statement released Thursday afternoon, Jack Miller, university president, said the article crossed the lines of journalistic freedom. "Rape is a profound violation of body and spirit, and to make light of it, even in satire, is abhorrent," Miller said. "We need to be sure that students understand that such hateful speech is not protected and simply is not worthy, on any ground, of publication."

This article violates several ethical values and it makes one wonder what exactly these journalism students were thinking when they published this article. In regards to advocacy, there was no sense of responsibility at all. A responsible writer would have at least added a side note that the article was satirical and may be found offensive. Or they could have atleast taken the time to end their article on a more serious note stating the fact that rape is a horrendous act that needs to be taken care of. This is also closely tied to honesty. This article was nowhere close to having high standards of accuracy and truth. Independence is just about the only value accounted for with this article. The editors will be held accountable for their actions.

Overall, this article was unfair. They should respect opinions of those who were victims. Publishing this piece also goes against the rights value because it discriminates against those who are/were rape victims. You wouldn't see an article making fun of mentally handicapped children or people with cancer, so why would this be an exception? You're just asking to get burned if you publish an article making fun of situations or issues that are incredibly sensitive.