Student newspaper no longer publishing opinion pieces that do not contribute to a 'safe space'
One student newspaper plans to promote diversity, but that aim will not extend to viewpoint diversity that does not create a 'safe space' or make some students feel 'alienated.'
One student said that the new opinion policy would 'target' anyone who has 'opposing views to what the majority of what the liberal students stand for.'
One student newspaper plans to promote diversity, but that aim will not extend to viewpoint diversity that does not create a “safe space” or make some students feel “alienated.”
Daily Nexus opinion editors announced this at the end of last semester. This spring is the first full semester for the editors of the University of California Santa Barbara publication to implement their plans.
In the piece, the editors noted that “in order to truly cultivate a space for comfortable and safe dialogue, it is imperative that [they] prioritize diversity not just in content but in who is writing said content.”
However, that intention apparently has a litmus test for content.
”When articles are repeatedly given consideration despite their potential to directly or indirectly alienate communities in the name of free speech, we fail as a section and a publication as a whole,” the editors wrote. “Pieces that directly infringe on the safety or sense of security of any individual or group do not have a place in our section.”
Berkley Corey, a senior and sociology major at the university, told Campus Reform that the newspaper’s new opinion policy would “target” anyone who has “opposing views to what the majority of what the liberal students stand for.”
Lindsie Rank, student press counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), told Campus Reform that, “As an independent student publication, newspapers like The Nexus have the right to accept or reject whatever content they choose, free from oversight by anyone other than the student editors charged with running the publication. We may not always agree with these editorial decisions.”
Campus Reform reached out to the university and the Daily Nexus opinion editors for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.
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