One of the ugliest features of American journalism these days is the hit piece meant to damage or destroy a person. The writer doesn’t bother with fair reporting since the preconceived purpose is to take the target down. Sadly, college kids master this kind of writing while working on their student papers.
So argues George M. Perry in today’s Martin Center article. He focuses on instances where the students have attempted to cancel coaches through articles filled with innuendo and sloppy reporting. He writes, “Most colleges and universities already house such an apprenticeship program: the student newspaper. But instead of offering an alternative path or mindset, student newspapers give aspiring journalists their first taste of the media’s power to cancel disfavored individuals.”
Perry focuses on cases at Dartmouth and Boston University where coaches were hit with sleazy student articles where any semblance of honest reporting was missing.
Read the whole thing.