Editor,
Thank you Scott Darnell, Louis Metzger and Wayne Schlingman.
Criticism like yours of the Daily Lobo's editorial decisions is long overdue. As an instructor here at UNM for the past two years, I too have noticed a consistent pattern of thought in the pages of the editorial section. I am frustrated that the Daily Lobo continually picks up editorials from the U-wire or other news outlets that seem to present the same ideology instead of the broad spectrum of ideas represented here in the UNM community.
And I, too, am upset about certain letters not being published. I have sent a handful of letters to the editor, though only one of them was ever printed. Most recently, a number of instructors here in the C&J Department and I sent a letter to the editor regarding the journalism accreditation issue. We were concerned about the numerous incorrect statements being made about the department and the misrepresentation of the issue by other letters to the editor.
We took particular issue with the way our department chair, Dr. Brad Hall, was misquoted and personally attacked in the paper, especially in regard to his leadership ability and his decisions about accreditation. We sent our letter in twice, but it was never published (I will admit that we forgot to put all our phone numbers on the letter, which may have disqualified our ideas).
Other members of the department either sent letters or hand delivered them to the Daily Lobo with the same result. After the issue was past and most students moved on, the Daily Lobo did publish one letter by a journalism grad student supporting her department. But by then Dr. Hall's reputation was damaged and the UNM students had a complete misled understanding of the accreditation issue. Dr. Hall is an excellent department chair and an incredibly competent leader. The students at UNM should know that.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
I guess it shouldn't surprise us to see what we do in the editorial section. The same thing happens at the national level in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post. No wonder books like Bernard Goldberg's Bias and Ann Coulter's Slander immediately jump to the top of the national best-sellers list.
If the editors of the Daily Lobo want to maintain the status quo and build careers that land them a footnote in the next book criticizing the media's one-sided framing of the issues, then they should keep doing what they are doing.
But if they truly want to be the independent voice of the University of New Mexico and represent the broad range of ideas represented in this great learning community, I suggest they revise their current editorial practices.
Matt Koschmann
UNM graduate student and C&J instructor
Editor's Note: If letters do not have a phone number and the writer cannot be personally contacted for verification, then they will not be printed. See the letter submission policy for more information.
