My Life as a Journalist: Part 8 — Disillusionment Sets In
If there is one thing true about life at The Batt, it’s that everything has a time and place — including people.
The people who worked at The Battalion were more then co-workers, they were friends. I always respected them as friends — even through our arguments at work.
A student newspaper, by its nature, is in a constant sate of transition. Students do not make a career out of working for The Battalion. They come and then they go — leaving because they graduate, get a better job somewhere else or simply become bored. New students then come in to replace them.
In my time at the paper, I had the opportunity to be part of three very distinct staff “eras.” During my first year at the paper, I was the new guy — looking up in awe at the editors who ran the paper. I reached my peak during my sophomore year and the first half of my junior year — joining the ranks of those editors who I had admired. I became noticed for my skills, was recognized for my achievements and made serious changes at the paper.
More importantly, I was a part of something bigger — a group of likeminded individuals all working towards a common goal. On a daily basis we produced a great paper — and we had fun doing it. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of staying past my welcome — trying to force myself into the next “era” of Battalion staff when I should have moved on.
Looking back, I should have quit when the rest of my peers left. As friends such as Nikki, Aaron, Andrew, Nishi and Sonia moved on to different things, I stayed behind and tried to maintain that same fun atmosphere. It’s a very real possibility that I overstayed my welcome.
While there were always editorial decisions I disagreed with, during my last semester at The Batt these differences in opinion began to grow in their frequency and intensity. It was obvious that I saw a different purpose for the paper than the EIC did. The real kicker, the decision that continues to bother me to this day, was the paper’s editorial stance on a group of stupid kids who made a stupid mistake.
Three students, two of which had coincidently worked as Aggielife writers during my time as editor, made a video of themselves in blackface acting out a slavery scene steeped in ill-advised racial stereotypes. From talking to the students in question, it became obvious that the purpose of their video was to lampoon the perceived second-class status of minorities at Texas A&M. This message, unfortunately, was not obvious in the video and the student’s actions were not easy to defend.
Upon hearing about the video and the fact that at least one of the actors was a former Battalion employee, the EIC made the decision that the paper would come out strongly against the video and the students responsible. I did not have any real problem with this stance — it seemed like a perfectly reasonable one at the time.
Unfortunately, as the paper continued to harp on the subject with every day’s issue — inciting the school with inflammatory rhetoric that essentially amounted to a print lynching, I began to have serious issues with the paper’s choices. I felt that a bigger deal was being made of the issue then needed to be — possibly in the interest of 15 minutes of fame the EIC was receiving due to the incident.
Everybody at The Batt knew of the national spotlight that had been shined on previous Batt EICs during the bonfire collapse and the Uncartoonist scandal, maybe the EIC wanted a taste of that fame. Why else would they continue to force the paper to cover the story of three kids who essentially made a “Chappelle’s Show” skit?
I lost faith in the paper the day I found out the students were forced to withdraw from A&M — an act I strongly believe the paper was directly responsible for.
To be continued…
