College editor takes flack over parody
The end-of-the-year edition of a University of California-Davis newspaper is creating controversy both on and off campus, and the student-dominated Campus Media Board has agreed to consider firing the newspaper’s new editor in chief.
The board has received complaints about sexual and racial references in the year-end parody section.
One picture showed children playing on the campus’ famous egghead sculpture with a large fake penis added to the photo, which some have called pornographic, according to KCRA-TV3.
Fitz Vo, a Vietnamese American junior who took over as editor of the California Aggie on June 1, listed himself in the spoof issue as “editor in chink.” He said the issue was “not indicative of what I intend to do in my tenure at the Aggie.”
He urged the board to let him remain on the job and consider hiring a faculty advisor to work with the newspaper, the Los Angeles Times reported.
High school releases journalism teacher
The journalism teacher at South Baltimore’s Southern High School – where the student newspaper was temporarily shut down by its staff in the spring because of a dispute with the principal over its content – was slated to lose her job at the end of June.
Williams, 23, was hired two years ago to start a journalism program at Southern and serves as the adviser for The Bulldog, the school’s newspaper.
She said she believes she is being let go because of the controversy that has surrounded stories in The Bulldog this year, The Baltimore Sun reported. Williams said she has been critical of Southern Principal Thomas Stephens’ handling of the situation.
Stephens objected to the February issue of The Bulldog, which contained criticism of the school system’s plan to turn Southern into a technology magnet school next fall. After the issue came out, Stephens called Williams to the office and then later said that future issues couldn’t be published without his approval.
School system spokeswoman Vanessa Pyatt said that school officials are investigating and looking into the district’s policy on student media rights.
