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OPINION & EDITORIAL

Herald unleashed childish attack on Kumar

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Also by Cristina Daglas:

Lack of cohesive leads cause Herald readers to quickly lose interest (October 20, 2005)
Neglecting pertinent information hurts credibility (October 27, 2005)
Irrelavent stories add little to news coverage (November 10, 2005)
Avoidable errors mar otherwise well-written articles (November 17, 2005)
Herald coverage of TAA well focused (December 1, 2005)

by Cristina Daglas

Thursday, December 8, 2005

When students make the leap from academia to politics, they become fair game for critique. However, looking toward the possibility of being an elected official — and, thus, public figure status — doesn't mean a personal attack is warranted. Ever.

The Badger Herald published an editorial Monday titled "Absolutely not," in which the board detailed Dane County Board Supervisor candidate Ashok Kumar's history at the University of Wisconsin. The editorial board picked a few of Kumar's most recent endeavors and explained why they believe these actions were initially (and still are) detrimental to students, who would be Kumar's constituents if elected.

Now, the editorial board may have had some valid points. This I'm not questioning or even analyzing. But what is jumping off the page is that these points were grossly overshadowed by overly critical language and childish pot shots. And Herald readers saw right through it.

The editorial provoked quite a bit of conversation on the Herald's website Monday, in which several of those who commented mentioned their distaste with Kumar standing as the only declared candidate. One individual wrote that he or she hopes there will be another candidate who surfaces merely for the sake of democracy, while others took issue with Kumar's politics — but, more importantly, they were disgusted with the editorial.

Why is this more important? Because the editorial board was apparently on the same page as several other students, but proceeded to lose their support with the piece. That's not a good sign in terms of the newspaper's credibility.

There were also a number of people who instantly defended Kumar on the website and a few who wrote in to the Herald. A lengthy letter to the editor in support of Kumar was printed two days later just as it should have been. The editorial page provided this alternate opinion in print, which is indeed commendable.

But what is also disappointing is that the message lurking at the bottom of the editorial and behind much of the statements was dead on: there must be more than one candidate.

In the days since the editorial ran, at least two more students have officially declared their candidacy. While this is great, I don't think this success can be attributed to The Badger Herald's editorial board. Perhaps the pure outrage in response to the editorial got the message across but that is a possibility I highly doubt.

It's a shame that strong points were hidden under such harsh wording because, at the end of the day, I'm not sure the editorial advanced a legitimate purpose. I hope the editorial board tones down its language and sticks to its points as this now-contested election continues into next semester.

While the election coverage will undoubtedly continue next semester, I will not. My term is ending just as planned and I'm heading to Europe. When I began this job, I promised a pure, slightly filtered critique of the paper on a weekly basis. With zero ulterior motives, this is what I've striven to do. I hope the person who continues the ombudsman experiment next semester is well received and I wish this person luck.

Cristina Daglas, former editor in chief of The Badger Herald, is the paper's ombudsman. Readers are encouraged to e-mail thoughts, criticisms and observations of the paper to cdaglas@badgerherald.com or call her at (608) 257-4712 ext. 168. Her column appears every Thursday on this page.

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Anonymous (December 8, 2005 @ 2:42am):

Thank you, Daglas. While possibly warranted in their opposition to Ashok Kumar's wide goals for a very limited office, the Herald Editorial Board was wrong in making the candidate sound like a 3-year old Adolf Hitler. Most of their criticism was far more immature as the childishness they attributed to him.

Anonymous (December 8, 2005 @ 8:43am):

What is a news ombudsman?

A news ombudsman receives and investigates complaints from newspaper readers or listeners or viewers of radio and television stations about accuracy, fairness, balance and good taste in news coverage. He or she recommends appropriate remedies or responses to correct or clarify news reports.

Anonymous (December 8, 2005 @ 9:55am):

I agree, Cristina. The Monday editorial was one of the worst I've ever seen in the last two years.

Anonymous (December 8, 2005 @ 1:28pm):

Let me beat you to it...

"What is a news ombudsman?

A news ombudsman receives and investigates complaints from newspaper readers or listeners or viewers of radio and television stations about accuracy, fairness, balance and good taste in news coverage. He or she recommends appropriate remedies or responses to correct or clarify news reports."

Now, may I point out that nowhere in the definition of news ombudsman (which you seen to post in the comments section each time you write an article) does it say to publish the qualms you seem to have with every issue of the paper. So stop wasting space, please. No one outside of the Herald needs to know what you think, or cares to read it. This is an internal issue and it relates less to campus than some of the articles you have chosen to rip on. If you are that hard up for opinion writers, just print another letter to the editor!

Anonymous (December 8, 2005 @ 3:00pm):

It's fairly obvious that Cristina herself doesn't post the definition of Ombudsman each time she writes a column. She could just post that in the article itself, after all.

Anonymous (December 8, 2005 @ 3:54pm):

what was the facebook wall Kumar wrote..
"john wiley smells like poop"

-yeah thats really the one person i want in public office...not. the herald attacks a very liberal public figure and they are equated to fox news? That argument holds absolutley no water whatsoever. Because they are not pandering every space of newspaper, like the Dowds, Krugmans, etc., to the extreme left wing, they are out of the mainstream? Do you see the political cartoons in there everyday by that Skye person, or do you actually read the editorials? there is a good balance.
-The herald editorial on monday made valid points concerning the candidate and they had every right to do so. They illuminated his childish pranks and antics. If you didnt like the article fine, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.