Dear Erin Brown and Beacon Staff,
To begin, let me say that I appreciate your consideration and time spent writing the article. Your kind words regarding the delight that you experienced in “discovering a new entertainment source” are flattering. You named some of the greatest satirists of all time in an article about our work. That by itself was a genuine compliment, enough to send us all dancing and giving high fives around our undisclosed Bacon office in Towers Room 401. I do however hope to rebut the subtle swipes that you made on the integrity of both the Bacon’s intentions and purpose.
First, you state that “the Bacon is a forum for venting.” Our intentions are not merely to vent frustrations, because truthfully, anyone can do that, and the Bacon would not be worthy of a Beacon editor’s opinion if it were only that. The Bacon is hopefully unique in the fact that it does not resort only to angered responses, but displays campus issues in a way that promotes discussion. Of course, we also write for the sake of humor. I seriously doubt that detailing Dr. Lovejoy pulverizing flaming bricks with the Power Team is an avenue for venting.
You claim that “there is nothing being debated” on our site. If this is your sincere opinion, I will invite you to re-read our articles, and see that the variety of responses do debate important issues.
Secondly, you claim that “the Bacon does not publish real news.” This statement is not entirely accurate, for we attempt to base all of our articles on a factual foundation, allowing satire to bring issues to light in a humorous way. When we find it necessary, we will cover an issue simply the way it is.
For example, we know that students did not find the Lord’s will behind an abandoned field beside the airport. However, Dr. Clark did say that before the foundations of the Earth, God predestined that field to be ours. Also, we know that the entire Honors program did not join the ROTC. Nevertheless, we do know that there is considerable frustration among the Honors program community regarding scholarship funding.
Your article mentions the quote from the Palm Beach Post saying that the Beacon is often times considered a “mouthpiece for the administration,” and I must confess that I did in fact use those words in our interview with Kimberly Miller. With more sincere thought I have realized that to blanket the Beacon with a statement of that proportion would discredit the work of many students as petty and uncreative, and we by no means intend to do that.
Responding to that thought, you mention that your “purpose is to defend the Beacon’s attempt
at journalistic integrity. If you don’t mind me asking:Where was the Beacon when the editor in chief position was removed?
Where was the Beacon when they took you off the Internet?
Where was the Beacon when the ROTC program was introduced without the consent of the faculty?
Where was the Beacon when student government was bribed to remove the Professor of the Year Award’s name?
Where was the Beacon when PBA not only held an orchestra concert in the Library shortly before finals, but also shut it down to students for a faculty party the next day?
Where was the Beacon when the Dean of the Library resigned?
Where is the Beacon now that our theatre department is performing in upstairs Weyenburg?
It forces us to ask why the Beacon flees from such crucial university issues.
You question why students would consider the Bacon the only forum for debate on issues that might be considered “un-Christian.” I can’t speak for the un-Christian material, but I think the reason is ultimately behind the fact that the Beacon has remained silent on the reality of many important issues and events.
It is widely believed that the Beacon caters to the official line of the university. We would like to think that giving a positive spin to virtually every issue is not your writer’s true intention.
Perhaps the heart of the matter is that you have no choice.
We know that at times, your hands are tied. You don’t have a student Editor-in-chief, you are almost fully funded by the school, your publisher is the Dean of the School of Communication and Media and your Executive Editor is a paid member of the faculty.
We sympathize.
We do not discredit the hard work that student writers and editors contribute to the weekly newspaper. Once you begin to really cover the issues that are discussed in the dorm common areas and the cafeteria will students begin to take the paper more seriously.
Sincerely,
The Big Elephant in the Room
40 comments:
i do like your points bacon, well put and so true...i think it is spot on that many students do wonder about how much freedom the beacon writers actually have and therefore are very much more interested in the bacon's articles purely based on that they will tackle those controversial issues...and it's darn funny the way they bring it up. one must appreciate it...usually.
As a former avid reader of the Beacon, I have to say very, very nicely done, Bacon. As always.
The campus newspaper's ability to do actual news reporting has been slowly constricted over the past years. During "The Compass" days, they could cover just about everything even though their print quality and editing was garbage.
There was still some freedom during the early Beacon days. We must be careful not to wager blame for what the Beacon has become on students. It's hard to be professional when there is only one journalism professor (the executive editor) who knows anything about it. Additionally, the removal of online content and the editor-in-chief position occurred over the summer while said journalism professor was on maternity leave and while students weren't on campus to protest it. Shrewdly played, PBA.
Don't lose heart, campus. Perhaps the Beacon will rise again...or perhaps (dare we say) the Utter? We can only hope.
Ah, the Utter!
The Bacon's Grandfather.
A little history: The school newspaper used to be called "The Rudder." It was shut down in the 1990s and editors created the famous "Utter" in response to the censorship.
This, of course was before blogging and the Internet was as easily accessible so it was an actual print piece.
If anyone knows more about the Utter, please fill us in.
But it does beg the question: What's the deal with PBA satirists and farm animals?
Is the elephant the newest member to the Bacon cast of characters?
you can't really give these guys that hard of a time...the beacon staff consists of about 8 people, with as the article said, one Journalism Professor, and an issue that goes out once a week. So if everyone wants these stories covered, why don't people write them and send them over. The Beacon in the Student Newspaper, and anyone can write for it, so in a way the BACON is complaining about stories that they wouldn't write for the Beacon.
I find this piece inspiring and amazing because I wrote an email to the Beacon yesterday that covered this same subject with a lot of the same points, though I'm sure my email was less humorous and all around fantastic as yours was, Bacon. :) However, I felt you were more than worthy of defense and I hope others did too. I wonder if we'll hear back from Erin....
Well played, well played.
can we consider the fact that it is a little bit entertaining that there is a little duel going on here- print media versus print media.
good, good because i once heard that universities were for debate, so don't feel like you guys need to be so "complimenting" before stating your opinions.
i like to see this.
Since you asked, its Udder not utter. The official paper was named the Rudder so when the administration suspended its publication, the ousted editorial staff who had all the Rudder graphics dropped the R and became the Udder. I'm purely guessing on this part but the Bacon staff probably knows a little of the history and paying Homage to the Udder dropped the e from Beacon and got Bacon.
Now some questions:
Why did they take the Beacon off the Internet?
Has anybody actually EVER listened to Sailfish Radio?
Want to know why PBA took the Beacon off the Internet?
Ask Dianne Dorsey, the Web Manager in the Marketing Dept.
(561) 803-2021
dianne_dorsey@pba.edu
She may not tell you why, but she's part of the reason.
Psalty! I havent thought about you since I was a kid listening to your songs on vinyl. I missed you, you big old blue book of virtue. <3
True Story Bacon...
love you
I hate you Mary M. <3
the bacon is by far the best part of my life.
I have listened to Sailfish radio and I think it's great! I think that it should be played as background music in non descript public places around campus. I've always wondered why the school didn't do that.
Hey Bacon man at the Post.
Get your facts correct.
The library was not closed for a Christmas event, it was scheduled to be closed on that night as it is on every saturday night!
ROTC is in the Rinker School and that faculty did approve the program. The entire faculty do not vote on new academic programs only the faculty in the school that houses the new program. The trustees also approved the program after the faculty approved. If you dont like ROTC, dont join but virtually all the other quality independent universities in Florida have ROTC as well.
Student Government decided to continue naming its award in the name of a previous professor who denied the inspiration of the Bible and questioned the Resurrection of Christ. That seems like a strange decision for student leaders at a Christian university. They presist even though some faculty have turned down the award because of the beliefs of this long gone professor. Is this the blind leading the blind?
Another false fact. The theater department performed the Fantastics in the Norton Museum and at the Weyenberg actually has a higher ceiling and more seating that the awful old moldy theater.
Irony only really works if you tell the truth so it will stand up to scrutiny. There are a lot of incorrect facts in the Bacon. At least the Beacon has to check facts before is goes to press.
It seems rather foolish to me to deny the works of great men who aren't Christians (or have deviant beliefs) - - - I mean, Paul was well read on 'Heathen' literature and seemed to recognize its importance and impact...
And perhaps the aforementioned professor 'questioned' the resurrection because he wasn't seeing it on display in the body of Christ, only seeing useless bickering, money grubbing, homosexual hating... you know, the things Christianity is known for here in the God-blessed US of A.
dear truth is beauty,
first, the christmas party was on a friday night.
secondly, the faculty did not vote on the ROTC.
Third, please enlighten us on which professors turned down the award.
fourth, your trying to justify their performance in Weyenburg?
fifth, what does irony have anything to do with what your saying?
There is a cliche on the Bacon comments that must be rid of. It goes like this:
Someone types the words, "Get your facts right," and then proceeds to say something that is incorrect.
I am rather tired of it, my darlings.
Can we have a rule that no one is allowed to say "get your facts right," unless you actually have a piece of truth to fix the fictional statement made?
thank you.
Here we go:
The faculty party was held on the day after the lighting of the Christmas tree. Perhaps Congress has changed the days of the week in this lovely country, but I am under the impression that Friday usually follows Thursday. Perhaps I missed the memo.
The statement, "The library was not closed for a Christmas event, it was scheduled to be closed on that night as it is on every Saturday night" is, sadly, untrue.
The faculty party was on Friday Nov. 30th, and the library was closed early for the party.
The Bacon is right on this one.
And for my second trick, you also said, "Another false fact. The theater department performed the Fantastics in the Norton Museum and at the Weyenberg actually has a higher ceiling and more seating that the awful old moldy theater."
I am having trouble finding what the Bacon got wrong here. What, exactly is the "false fact?"
The Bacon said that the Beacon should cover the story that the up coming performance is going to be in upstairs Weyenberg. Since that is true, what's the problem?
The Bacon never said that the Fantasticks (which was a marvelous show) was anywhere...they never even mentioned the Fantasticks.
Some people think that it is unfortunate that the theatre dept. hasn't a home and must perform there. Granted, as most breathing people can observe, the ceilings are higher.
Thank you for enlightening us, oh great one. You are the Pan. But you still have not told us what the Bacon got wrong.
I am sure that the Theatre dept. is delighted to perform Man of La Mancha now that the roof is a few feet higher.
In other news, it has always been a wonder to me who these people actually are... You know, the people who read the Bacon, get all red faced and type responses claiming that the Bacon got things wrong, when they really didn't. Is it one person? Perhaps. Do these people write furious letters to the Producers of the Daily Show, accusing them of propelling false ideas throughout the world. Do the editors of the Onion receive such emails when they quote Pres. Bush?
I guess we'll never know. But when you think about it, we all have the same right to type our frustrations in the forum, and I'm grateful that the Bacon has given this to us.
My name is Mitt Romney, and I approve this message.
Is it bad that deep down I enjoy seeing people who are so sure of themselves are put in their place? The Bacon has more credibility than the Beacon in reporting things that actually matter to the PBA student body - especially this year when we don't have brave warriors like Mr. Chris Moody keeping it real. Not to show any contempt to the beacon or anything - but it's the truth.
"How the mighty have fallen! The weapons of war have perished!" -2sam1:27
The Bacon is more credible because
1)it isn't the mouth piece for the administration.
2)It reports on things that are uncomfortable like real news is supposed to
3)Is more current than news that is weeks old.
I really love it when I see someone from administration get all ticked off when they see the truth in print, and they feel they have to quickly set the record straight, regarding former Machiavellian attempts spin issues.
The greatness of the Bacon is that it's a free and open forum. It doesn't get everything right of course, and when it misses on something, count on it,there will be somebody out there that will call them on it. That's the beauty of open discussion, Truth is beauty.
the comments are ALMOST as funny as the articles themselves!
faculty have been known to turn down the SG award because they did not want to have the name of a long gone faculty member on the award. check with previous SG leaders.
As the former student editor in chief of The Compass (The Beacon's former name) I have to say, well done. I was forced to quash many scandals that we discovered because the faculty member associated with the paper demanded it. I still regret doing so. Thank you for being in existence. You make PBA better for everyone.
Anonymous, this still begs the question Turd Furgason raised--what faculty have turn down the Professor of the Year award? I have trouble believing a single faculty member ever turned down a Professor of the Year award simply because they disagree with the professor for whom it's named.
Anyone who read comments in response to the Daniel Goodman controversy can see that faculty highly covet the award.
Ah the Lovely Bacon. Truly the greatest example at PBA of the motto:
"Think For Yourself, Write for Others."
towers 401 was the girl RD's room while he was a student.
is the bacon a homage to past students? i think so, because no else seems to be rising out of the swamp.
it is fair to say that the students currently in charge of the bacon are certainly rising above
I remember writing for the Beacon. Every time I used the term "Dubya" in an article, it got slashed with red pen and changed to "O Great Leader of the Free World, George W. Bush." Funny how that kept happening.
The Beacon has had a lot of issues with accuracy over the years... Its just as well that there is not an online edition or student editor anymore. Would a student with a resume and reputation to protect want to have potential employers looking at the misquotes and one-sided articles in there? I doubt it!
I greatly enjoy reading the Bacon, and can offer some interesting perspectives for new readers:
Yes, the Theatre building was moldy. It was also OURS. Dr No-man-is-an-island (but he's a planetoid) was only too happy to escape into VLR when it was built, and YES, there has been more than a bit of a no-you-can't-come-into-our-pretty-production-space-while-we-continue-taking-up-time-in-yours attitude from that direction over the years. Its sad, but true. But the Theatre department muddled onward, producing one amazing show after another. I am proud to say that I was a part of every production for 3 years, and used some creative problem solving techniques to actually make use of the low ceiling. I also provided the incentive for the creation of an entirely new major there, and consider myself it's first graduate.
The departed faculty are some of my mentors, and the current faculty should know who this is by now. To you who know, Hello.
The School of Communication and Media was very proud of the Beacon as well as the Theatre Department, and Dean Webb was possibly the best dean and professor I have ever met. I am glad to call him a friend still. He personally cared deeply about the integrity of the Beacon, and was quite unhappy about the blatant example of journalistic plagiarism that I brought to his attention (October 2004 issue) where a right-wing political piece was copied from a paper in Houston, without the source credit being cited. Numerous times photos were included without proper citations, and I personally was mis-quoted several times in ways that changed the meaning of what I had been saying. The efforts of Professor Edgarallenpoe to block any non-Republican articles or opinion pieces from the Beacon were quite distressing, and the only way to bring any balance to the paper was for advertising space to be purchased. Coverage of blatantly right-wing articles or opinion pieces were allowed in for free and without censor.
Is this what a student editor would want on their resume? Doubtful. Is this what Professor Terrycloth would call honest impartial journalism? Also doubtful, but then again... He left partly b/c he could see which way the wind was blowing. The Journalism program and the Theatre program both have the same smell of unpopularity about them amongst the administration. The lack of a new Theatre building in the 10 year plan (When it had been in the 10 year plan since 1994) is the truth to that.
I personally found out that one of the primary reasons the theatre was still in the old building, was lack of a donor. When someone donated $5 million and got their name on a building (and a new school designed to funnel workers to their field) I figured I would ask around. I knew influential (rich) people. I found "The Family" that was able to make this happen, and made a couple quiet suggestions in their direction. Later, I discovered from other sources, that they had indeed donated a large sum, to get the planning and research started, with the promise of more.
Has the administration turned down free money? Is that The PBA Way? Don't we offer American Free Enterprise (Worship the Almighty Dollar) awards to big donors all the time?
Or is it something more sinister? I certainly can't expect The Beacon to report honestly about that... So Thank you Bacon, (And Chris Moody) for what you do. You should be proud to be an impartial source for news, as the Beacon can no longer fulfill that role for PBA.
Thank you, PBA theater forever, for the insights and final say on the matter.
Hopefully, all of the feelings conveyed over the last year's postings of frustration and mishandling and bungling of this department by administration will make some effect to turn things around regarding the theater department.
I'll believe it when I see it, though.
PS- Dr. Mac, we still miss you!
I agree with Gaelic Gopher. Before you go and blame the Beacon for not covering the important issues going on at PBA, why not ask why the Bacon is the ones that have to do the reporting? If the Beacon fully disclosed certain issues that cast the University in a bad light, they can get shut down completely. While you might not think it's that big a deal, the only way for journalism majors to get jobs is actually have experience writing. If there is no Beacon, that chance for experience disappears and all the sudden you have a bunch of journalism majors who won't learn a thing while they are in school.
While people bash the beacon, they should be looking elsewhere to place the blame for not only forcing students to result to other news sources, but also stunting the education for journalism students that are not provided a proper outlet to learn proper news writing.
And, since we know the Beacon has little freedom, and the Bacon is the one that is telling all, what makes you think the article on the Bacon wasn't a forced piece? How do you know they didn't have to write it in an attempt to try to discourage students from reading it?
To the Bacon un-staff:
Please run the contents of the Beacon article to which you are responding.
Please, from time to time, simply make list of factual materials about PBA life -- not rumors, but things that have been announced to the grown-ups. Faculty and staff departures, for example. Major changes in academic programs, etc. Do not resort to rumors. Just list some of the facts. It will help your readers know what is happening on campus.
Make sense? Just provide some lists and even news briefs, amid the satire.
I want to play PBA in basketball
the bacon can't run the Beacon article it replied to:
The Beacon was taken off the Internet.
They could re-type the entire thing, but I don't think they should have to do that.
-----
I am thinking about the commment above that asks the Bacon to list facts. It's a fair question, as many are not aware of school politics enough to decipher between what is true and what is a joke.
After a careful read of the Bacon articles, they have yet to get something wrong.
Let's look at the most recent articles:
Facts:
The Library Dean resigned
The theatre is performing in Weyenberg
The Beacon did run a piece with "Black Vulture Facts,"
The administration does have a history of using spin to "dance" around questions at VIP meetings (although that is subjective to one's opinion of course)
Students do try to avoid the guy who collects blood donations
MLK Challenge does look a bit like MILK Challenge at first glance, students can get workship for volunteering for a presidential campaign, the faculty did have a workshop last week with that theme, the school has been trying to re-sod the intramural field for years....i could go on and on
These are not rumors. They are true.
But I can absolutely see why someone would like to see what was real and what is fiction. It's a fair request, but I don't think that the Bacon needs to preface every article with the premace of every joke, or use a seperate font.
The comments usually reveal the meaning behind most jokes.
Although there always is that one guy who says "get your facts right" and then goes on to tell un-truth's on behalf of the school. But those are usually refuted and proven to be lies by the end of the day anyhow.
The bacon is the mouthpiece of the people! ride on sweet monkey! ride on!
beaconsuggestions@gmail.com
Email your story ideas that you want to see in The Beacon. Me, an unbiased student reporter will bring all of the suggestions up at the meeting and see what we can cover. Or write an entire article and submit it. Or show up for the meetings Friday at 11:00 and give your suggestions. Lets take some action.
Good for you, Beacon anonymous person!
Let's see what gets published.
Good move.
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