In the age of blogs and social media, student journalism has an important role in keeping students informed about campus news. When campus publications opt for sensationalism over accuracy and impartiality, nobody wins.
On Apr. 21, the Claremont Independent published an article about tensions within the 5C black community over “Dinner for the Sistahs,” an event planned by Building Leaders on Campus (BLOC) that attracted controversy due to confusion over whether the even was open to all women of color or only black women. The article, written by Editor-in-Chief Steven Glick PO ’17, demonstrates no effort to understand the underlying issues behind the controversy or the opinions of the community members affected. Instead, as seen in many other posts by the right-wing publication, the article heavily quotes Facebook comments and posts without providing sufficient context for said quotes.
We do not intend to dictate what the Claremont Independent should or should not publish. We do, however, condemn the publication’s use of an insular discussion within the black community at the Claremont Colleges for the sake of publicity.
It is clear from the onset that Glick’s article seeks to incite, not inform. The article’s headline, “Black Women Protest Campus Party Because Non-Black Women Are Invited,” reads as something straight out of Ann Coulter’s playbook. Glick’s inability and/or reluctance to do anything but copy and paste Facebook posts and comments reads as nothing more than a sorry attempt at shaming and diluting the concerns raised by some members of the black community. Unfortunately, this type of lazy journalism has become common practice at the Claremont Independent.
Conservative opinions have an audience at the 5Cs, and we sincerely believe in the benefits of having multiple points of view on issues concerning the consortium. It is unfortunate, though, that the only conservative publication on campus dilutes its otherwise noteworthy articles with articles like this.
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