As student members of the living wage campaign, we do not appreciate your sass. As individuals on this campus, each member of your staff is entitled to his or her own opinion and ownership of said opinions. As a unit, however, you represent not only your individual passions, but those of the entire Northwestern community, which includes, yes, Living Wage Campaign activists. By denouncing this sizable and passionate sector of your student readership, you, as a paper, have alienated and offended the audience for whom you exist to serve. In publishing a public stance against the students who choose to fight for a living wage--not criticizing their methods, nor their politics, but their cause itself--you have hereby surrendered your claim to the right to represent this campus and the individuals therein.
Love,
Claire, ex-Medilldo
and The APP Team
Editorial boards have every right to take a stand on issues. The Daily held off a long time to officially not support the Living Wage Campaign- and their points about the economics not adding up are completely valid.
ReplyDeleteThis is no different from their choice to endorse political candidates. I'm guessing they didn't represent the "entire Northwestern community" when they did that. It's their job as a newspaper to take a stance when it matters.
Maybe this is what the Living Wage campaign needs. A wakeup call from some perfectly sensible people who are perfectly glad that students are fighting for issues that they think are important- but that the results they want just won't be effective. Is that so hard to swallow?
Our problem is not with endorsements in general. It's that the Daily has effectively written off an entire group of students. It's the difference between the Daily endorsing all Democratic candidates and the Daily denouncing the College Republicans. If the the Daily wrote an editorial saying the College Republicans were wrong and they should stop fighting for their causes, there would be an uproar. That is effectively what the Daily has done to the LWC.
ReplyDeleteNot only that, but the economic facts are far from valid. They are pick-and-choose, and if nothing else, I would like to see some sources cited beyond a Macroeconomics class that an editor vaguely remembers.
Thank you for posting!
If you won't listen to other students, you should listen to Pres. Shapiro and the economics professors. They know what they are talking about. If Northwestern spends more on these salaries, then the jobs will eventually be filled by more qualified workers. The reality of the situation is that the living wage is not feasible.
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