Where the ego of Capitol Neighborhoods Inc. is concerned, it seems what you say matters much less than how you say it. In Thursday’s paper, University of Wisconsin professor Richard L. Brown lambasted the Editorial Board for its “snide commentary” on CNI’s inability to attract any participation beyond Associated Students of Madison’s newly appointed student “liaison” to a meeting in which, ironically enough, outreach to students was one of the central issues. As residents of CNI’s jurisdiction, students are entitled to much more representation than an ASM “liaison” — we deserve an equal place at the table.
Brown argued that “from a journalistic perspective,” the Herald often seems more concerned with “isolated remarks” than “giving the issues the attention they deserve.” Sadly, from a journalistic perspective, Brown clearly has no clue whatsoever as to what the purpose of editorial boards actually are. The Editorial Board has absolutely no obligation to engage in objective journalism but rather to comment on the news as it stands.
And as far as Brown is concerned, the news is laughable. As he correctly pointed out, it isn’t our fault we were born into a culture that “makes it normal to go out and get really wasted.”
On the same token, it isn’t Brown’s fault he was born into a culture that makes it normal for paternalistic authoritarians to impose their condescending and entirely arbitrary vision of appropriate behavior on individuals who are adults in a legal and practical sense. Additionally, if Brown sincerely believes CNI is doing all it possibly can, he should have responded to the underlying premise of the editorial, which is that CNI cannot claim to be interested in sincere outreach when it cannot attract students to meetings that are partially about outreach, of all things.
Perhaps, like the Editorial Board opinion in Wednesday’s paper, this column is too “snide” and fails to live up to Brown’s whimsical standards of what journalism is. Fortunately, this is the editorial page. This is where opinions are printed. Opinions are biased. If Brown would like unbiased coverage on the weather or, perhaps, the complete and total inadequacy of his organization’s outreach efforts, he should turn to the news section.
Correction: Due to an editing error, the first sentence of this article referred to Capitol Neighborhoods Inc. as Campus Neighborhoods Inc. We regret the error.
