To journalists, the freedom to challenge the status quo, to say what's on your mind and the minds of others, is one of the most wonderful things about calling ourselves Americans.
This freedom applies to all independent newspapers, which means it also applies to this little independent daily.
College journalism can get kind of hairy -- some university papers are owned, paid for and managed by the college's administration.
This isn't the case with yours truly. We pay for ourselves and make our own decisions about what to print.
Which brings us to our point. We've received a few letters complaining about two pieces that have recently run in our paper.
First, Monday's "Ship of Fools" featured three religious figures - Muhammad, Jesus and Buddha - playing cards as they discussed the actions of their followers. This comic was drawn directly in response to the protests happening in Europe and the Middle East over papers that ran cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. It was not meant to disrespect any religion, but rather to point out that even individuals who profess certain beliefs are capable of terrible actions.
We knew that, in light of recent events, the comic would be controversial. However, we felt it was appropriate to run for three reasons: It did not show any of the religious figures in a negative light; it was commentary on a legitimate news item; and, since the same cartoonist has drawn several comics featuring images of Jesus in the past, allowing a comic with images of multiple religious figures would be treating the religions equally.
On a completely different topic, we've also received a few letters from readers concerned about last week's story "Banging in the Bathroom," which ran in State Press Magazine. One reader was shocked that ASU "allowed" us to print it, while another was concerned that the story did not help further Michael Crow's vision.
If we only published content that would advance Crow's agenda and made ASU look good, we probably wouldn't cover tuition hikes and other issues that affect students. Helping someone's vision in print is called "PR," folks, and it's a very dangerous line to cross.
The role of SPM is to explore news items more in depth than the daily paper, but it's also there to provide you with information about the random and interesting things your peers are up to.
ASU doesn't mandate what we write about. We serve our readers only. Which means that if we've offended you, or made you laugh, we want you to let us know. We appreciate our readers. So keep those letters to the editor coming.
After all, freedom of speech goes both ways -- we tell you about something, then you tell us how you feel.
