In a recent opinion published by The State News editorial board, members made the claim that there is a concerning lack of student activism at MSU. As a journalism student, I find this claim ridiculous, particularly coming from the editorial board at The State News.
This is a paper that is funded by a tax placed on all university students (which amounts to about 15 percent of its funding), yet The State News still fails to utilize its status as a mouthpiece for its fellow students. A student newspaper is supposed to promote the values this editorial claims MSU students are lacking. The State News shouldn’t be chiding us for lacking the activist spirit, it should be writing news stories about the countless student groups that frequently take action against the university’s administration and that ask for positive change on campus.
I am continually baffled at the lack of adequate coverage of activist student groups in The State News. Countless protests by student groups such as the Coalition Against Sexual Violence, MSU Beyond Coal, MSU Greenpeace and Students Promoting Animal Rights have gone unreported in past years. In fact, The State News editorial board has even gone so far as to denounce the activist stance of certain student groups, specifically the Coalition Against Sexual Violence. In an editorial published on March 4, the State News editorial board wrote: “Four members of the coalition were arrested after refusing to leave the Administration Building. Why? More press coverage? Or maybe it makes those members feel important. Ultimately, it accomplished very little.”
But who are they to criticize? The State News should support, rather than denounce student efforts at change. A student newspaper should take a step forward for students and activate change through the powerful mouthpiece they’ve been given.
When two MSU basketball players were accused of raping a female student last fall, The State News refused to cover this. Why? Countless news organizations around the state found this newsworthy, why not MSU’s student newspaper? The closest The State News came to writing about this issue was criticizing the methods of protest chosen by the Coalition Against Sexual Violence. In reality, MSU’s student newspaper, the voice of the students, should have been the first paper on the story, as this issue greatly affects MSU students.
As a student at MSU, I am disappointed in the efforts of The State News to act as a true mouthpiece for MSU’s student body.
Caron Creighton, journalism senior and SpartanEdge editor-in-chief
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