Back in the Stone Age, when student journalists still cut out headlines with X-Acto knives and pasted chemically drenched text to layout sheets with hot wax, I edited my campus newspaper.
In my early 20s at the time, I felt reasonably confident that I knew everything there was to know about journalism.
That’s why, of course, that I approved a front-page photo one time of a student blood drive. But for some reason, a few readers (OK, a whole lot of readers) did not approve of the close-up shot of the needle going in a donor’s arm.
Another time, a colleague (now a veteran city beat writer at The Oklahoman) reported on the arrest of a student leader on a rape complaint. We decided to identify the complaining party — the alleged victim — as well as the person arrested. We argued in print that granting rape victims anonymity contributed to the stigma of the crime.
That was 20-plus years ago.
Alas, I mention all of the above as full disclosure because I am about to question the journalistic sanity of the fine folks at The Daily O’Collegian, the student newspaper at Oklahoma State University. This week, that paper ran a glowing front-page story about a new strip club.
The top of the story:
Jerry and Amber Elledge have made bare breasts their business.
As husband and wife, the two own the Blue Diamond Cabaret, a strip club, at 7320 E. Sixth St.
The club opened Jan. 13, less than a month after the Doll House closed.
Jerry, who has worked in adult entertainment for 15 years, said his passion for his work started when he was an Oklahoma State University student.
“I went to my first topless club at 21, and I never really left,” Jerry said.
As riveting as that lede is, it’s the headline that the paper, um, stripped across the top of the story that’s generating discussion:
DIAMOND IN THE MUFF
I learned about the brouhaha from my friend Kenna Griffin, an Oklahoma City University journalism professor and a former metro desk colleague of mine at The Oklahoman. In a blog post titled “Student Newspaper Pushes Boundaries,” Griffin opined:
While I’m not offended by the headline, it seems this is a good time to practice the “just because you can doesn’t mean you should” standard of journalism ethics.
The O’Colly’s editors should have considered the mass of their newspaper readership, which goes beyond the student body. They also should have considered how the headline might impact people’s views of the legitimacy of their publication. As one newspaper adviser said in an email during the discussion:
“I believe a rule of thumb for the editors to measure the acceptability of a headline is to determine if it wants to be a tabloid or a credible newspaper. ‘What would the New York Times do?’ versus ‘What would the National Enquirer or a similar publication do?’”
One thing is for certain. The O’Colly got people’s attention.
My reaction is less subtle: It’s crappy journalism.
The sensationalism screams for attention. But where’s the healthy dose of journalistic skepticism?
Is there no source who might discuss the potential negative side of a business selling women’s bodies? Is there no leader who might weigh in on whether this is the kind of establishment the community needs? Is there no one at the sheriff’s department who might respond to the story’s claim that the new-and-improved strip club has brought a higher level of (bare-breast-loving) clientele?
Again, we’re talking about student journalists. They’re still learning (hopefully) and may be unfamiliar with GetReligion ghosts. But this kind of performance does little to inspire confidence in the future of the profession.
Then again, look who’s talking.
Photo via Shutterstock
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Comments (17) |
February 1, 2012, at 5:18 pm
I know it’s terribly unprofessional of me, but I can’t stop chortling at that headline. It’s the kind every editor wishes he could use and knows he never will.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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February 1, 2012, at 5:23 pm
We’ll forgive you this time, Joel.
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February 1, 2012, at 5:45 pm
Kudos on deliberately taking the low moral ground on this, Bobby. Gutsy and effective IMO.
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February 1, 2012, at 5:57 pm
And the religious ghost is what? That the article didn’t ask the strippers their religious affiliation? That the reporter failed to ask a religious conservative if he or she approved of exotic dancing?
Not every article needs to have a religious angle, even if one could be shoehorned into it.
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February 1, 2012, at 6:39 pm
Maybe there’s not a religion angle.
Maybe there is.
In a city that one native described as “middle American Bible belt, very religious, very conservative,” I just wish the story had did a little more digging and offered some perspectives besides those of the strip club owners.
But again, I realize we’re talking about a student newspaper.
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February 2, 2012, at 1:18 am
Seems to me the critical fact is that this is a student newspaper.
1. Who really thinks a student newspaper has credibility in the first place? My experience tells me they tend to be places where student journalists learn the stealth and guile necessary to pass off their ideology as “objective” journalism. Except they haven’t mastered the skills yet.
2. The paper’s readership is dominated by college students who probably thought the headline was hilarious. So how then could it damage the paper in the eyes of its readership?
No, I think this is just a case of “Know your audience, and give them what they want.”
carl
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February 2, 2012, at 5:56 am
Hey, now. The New York Post is famous for its headlines, and while this might push the limit, I don’t think it would be quite past them. Probably wouldn’t have been past the Village Voice in its prime, either. It may be that neither paper sets an especially admirable standard, but they are both real papers.
If I’m right, this raises the question of whether, as Bobby asks, the fact that this is an Oklahoma publication rather than a coastal one changes the balance of good judgment. Also, whether the fact that it is a student paper should impose some limits that professionals might not need to observe.
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February 2, 2012, at 8:58 am
Was that an article? I thought it was an advertisement.
The headline is simply trashy. A hundred years ago when I was in college, that wouldn’t have been allowed. A voice from the ancient past echoes, “Your mother will buy anything you get in print. Don’t write what she won’t show your father.”
Carl (#6) has a point. Student newspapers are like student bands: you find a few very talented musicians, a lot of earnest young dabblers and a handful who just want to make a lot of noise.
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February 2, 2012, at 11:06 am
Bobby, I second John D’s question and regard your reply as wholly inadequate. What is the religious ghost in this story?
Are women’s bodies inherently religious, so that writing about exposing them raises a religous ghost, which the paper can then address or fail to address? If you are going to take that posture, you might find agreement from some Pagans, including some Pagan women. But I’m not sure the consensus extends to the GR editorial crew.
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February 2, 2012, at 11:22 am
Dave,
My point was that there may or may not be a religion ghost in this story, but there is no doubt that there is a one-sided-story ghost - in other words, you’ve got a strip club in the middle of the Bible Belt that has been a problem for police and the community. Where are the other community voices (religious or otherwise) in this glowing feature? As Bill said, it reads more like an advertisement.
After a night’s sleep, I would agree that it’s a legitimate question whether this is GetReligion territory or not … especially since it involves a student publication.
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February 2, 2012, at 11:26 am
This just in, grumps from older generations don’t approve of something students do.
The headline is hilariously awful, red-top tabloids here in the UK would approve.
To improve the article they could have asked around the area, see if any local people disapprove of the club. But I’m not seeing a specifically religious ghost.
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February 2, 2012, at 11:50 am
Bobby, I appreciate the post-post reflection you’ve put in on this. I would submit that, if a religious ghost exists every time a story offends local moral sentiment (generally of a religious basis), GR would be swamped with work and never dig through to its core mission.
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February 2, 2012, at 1:40 pm
Ethics and morality and disapproval of lasciviousness and respect for the body are kind of associated with my religion.
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February 2, 2012, at 7:46 pm
I have certain expectations for when the media references religion in an article. It’s a trickier question when the article doesn’t mention religion at all. Julia’s comment is apt, but I think it falls in line with my earlier comment about shoehorning religion into any article.
I know a few clergy and they have opinions on just about everything. That doesn’t mean reporters are remiss in not asking them about global warming. Should an article on a pig farm include comments from an imam, an Orthodox rabbi, a Reform rabbi (for balance), a Seventh-Day Adventist minister, and a few clergy from religious groups that make no comment on the eating of pork? If the pig farm were being located upwind from a mosque, there might be a reason to ask an imam, less so to talk to a Lutheran minister.
Unless the strip club is located just near a church, there doesn’t seem to be a religious ghost there.
As for the headline, unless there was a campus religious protest over the headline, no religion ghost. Could the reporter have talked to the campus chaplain? Sure. Was it necessary? Probably less so than talking to a representative of a campus women’s group.
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February 2, 2012, at 8:28 pm
Did I neglect to mention that we’re talking about Bible Belt Oklahoma?
According to Google Maps, there is a church 0.3 miles from the strip club (perhaps right next door?) and another 0.8 miles from the strip club.
Regarding the campus reaction, the paper ran a few letters to the editor from outraged readers.
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February 3, 2012, at 9:17 am
Local tv news? Student newspapers? Is it silly season at GetReligion?
-John
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February 4, 2012, at 12:27 pm
Don’t look now, but it’s silly season at Romenesko.com too.
Seriously, Romenesko (whose name is familiar to those in media circles) notes that the headline drew a Thursday letter from journalism school faculty members that said “this sophomoric attempt at humor by using a slang term for a part of a woman’s anatomy undermines the credibility of everyone associated with The Daily O’Collegian. Journalists must work hard every day to earn this credibility. Once it’s lost, it’s hard to recover.”
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