Editor,
As avid readers of the Daily Lobo, we feel that it is important to follow current issues. We appreciate having a student publication on campus, but wish to express valid complaints about its editorial practices this semester.
Our first grievance deals with unequal representation of ideology within the opinion pages. The Daily Lobo includes articles from U-Wire with a distinct homogeneity of ideological stance. An example of this trend is last Monday's "Nice Guys Finish Last" column, wherein the author deliberately and illogically equates one party with "good" and the other with "evil."
Second, some of the undersigned have written several pertinent letters to the editor to the Daily Lobo, yet none have been published. The Lobo has the right to publish what it pleases, but when the unpublished letters happen to be written in the context of ideologies clearly not approved by the Lobo, when the editorial page continues to encourage students to submit their opinions ("The Daily Lobo welcomes letters to the editor from any point of view") and when this paper continues to squander its opinion pages on one-sided U-Wire columns rather than the voice of UNM, there is something terribly wrong. We wonder whose opinions the Daily Lobo truly welcomes.
Finally, we express our dismay that a groundbreaking event for UNM was not covered by the Daily Lobo. On Oct. 30, the College Republicans, College Democrats and Campus Greens provided the University with its first tri-partisan student debate. This event was of interest to a broad spectrum of the UNM community. Despite considerable efforts to convince the Daily Lobo to cover the debate, news of it was not printed. Is the Daily Lobo afraid of covering debates that might contain alternative ideologies? Perhaps the editor fails to understand that the purpose of the press is to print balanced news of importance to its readers.
We conclude that the Daily Lobo's journalistic/editorial practices are generally deplorable and an embarrassing disservice to the University of New Mexico. If the Daily Lobo is "the independent voice of UNM," it must include all ideologies, not simply those preferable to its editor.
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It also needs to print more student letters and waste less space on U-Wire propaganda. We write out of concern for our fellow readers and for the integrity of our campus newspaper. We hope that this letter will catalyze a revision of the Daily Lobo's editorial policies. Is the Daily Lobo's biased coverage appropriate for an institution that values freedom of academic thought and information? We are unconvinced.
Scott Darnell
UNM student
Louis E. Metzger IV
UNM student
Wayne M. Schlingman
UNM student
