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Show Wednesday, September 22, 2004 Editorial Editor-in-Chief: Natalie Clemens VIEWPOINT Looking for news that agrees Phone: 626-7121 THREADED MUZZLE & FLASH SUPPRESOR BAYONET SEMIAUTOMATIC TRIGGER MOUNT Within 24 hours, CBS' Dan Rather was forced to cast doubt on the reliability of his own story, which brought to light last week memos allegedly impugning Bush's Air Force National Guard service record. Whether CBS recognizes it or not, the counterstory was first broken by CBS' competition. Before the network's "60 Minutes II" report was even over, messages were posted on the conservative Web site FreeRepublic.com by individuals who claimed the font and spacing of the memos looked wrong, and that the format was not Air Force style during the Vietnam era. The next morning, the controversy found its way to a conservative attorney-owned Web log (or "blog") called Power Line {powerlinebiog.com). By that afternoon, CBS News had contacted Power Line. By that evening, one day after the original story, CBS admitted doubts about the memos' authenticity. The press questions the reliability of Internet sources, including blog communities, because anyone can contribute, credible or not. What the press forgets is that its own accounts of the world are mostly policed internally. Readers must carefully corroborate information gleaned from the Internet, precisely because there is so much content, and most of it isn't of the caliber to cause a network retraction. But the speed and vastness of what is available on the Web makes it invaluable, for both news and verification. Experts worldwide can cross-check evidence and add links to original sources. That in itself offers a kind of credibility. Cable news stations have already given the networks some stiff competition. Cue the addition of global news webcasts, Internet magazines and, on the one-person-can-makea-difference front, Web logs. The marketplace of ideas has turned into a worldwide bazaar. The worry is not that some of it is unverified or unaccountable; the memofiascohas shown how the best information willriseto the top. But there is another reason for concern. The Internet can be a cosmopolitan convergence of ideas, but just like any big city, it has its boroughs, and to take scope of it all, people root themselves in a neighborhood rather than as a citizen of the World (Wide Web). There is no better place to find a large group of people who agree with one's own opinions. Leonard Pitts Jr. wrote in a recent Miami Herald column: "In recent years, we've seen more people abandon mainstream news outlets, choosing instead those fringe outlets that reliably validate a preferred world view. Nowadays, people want their opinions echoed, not questioned. It's a troubling development, suggesting as it does a future where there is news for you, news for me, news for that race, creed or sexual orientation over there, but no common truth, no such thing as objective, verifiable fact." Rather than becoming disillusioned with some news sources and turning to those that do not challenge personal ideas, responsible citizens must pay attention to all media available, and allow it to check itself. If, instead, media is split along ideological factions, the world and its Web will remain boroughs in a cosmos instead of a mutually beneficial whole. - The Signpost Editorial Board The -«^ A Weber vveoer State oiaie University university Signpost Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor News Editor Sports Editor Copy Editor Features Editor Entertainment Editor Business Editor Photo Editor Graphics Editor Online Editor Advertising Manager Office Manager Advisior Distribution Publisher Signpost Fax Natalie Clemens Maria Villasenor Shane Farver Ryan Howe William Hampton Roy Pyatt Colleen Batchelor Candice Dallin Mo Williams Samuel T. Platt David Adams Devon Crus Georgia Edwards Allison Hess William Hampton Dr. Randy Scott 626-7121 626-7641 626-7655 626-7983 626-7659 626-7621 626-7105 626-7624 626-6358 626-7661 626-6358 626-6359 626-7974 626-7499 626-7974 626-6464 626-7401 The Signpost is published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during the semester. Subscription is $9 a semester. The first copy of The Signpost is free, each additional copy Is $.50. - The Signpost is a student publication, written, edited and drafted by Weber State University students. Student fees partially fund the printing of this publication. Opinions or positions voiced are not necessarily endorsed by the university. • • The Signpost welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must include name, address, telephone number and the writer's signature. Anonymous letters will not be printed. - The Signpost reserves the right to edit letters for reasons of space and libel and also reserves the right to refuse to print any letter. Letters should. not exceed 350 words. Bring letters to the editorial office in SUB 267, ma if to: The Signpost, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, 84408-2110. Attn: Editor in Chief, email thesfgnpost@weber.edu ASSAULT 1 WEAPON GRENADE V LAUNCHER! HIGH CAPACITY AMMUNITION MAGAZINE Letters to the Editor 'Unwanted attraction' services can help I was intrigued to read the passionate letter to the editor from Friday about "Anti-gay ads unwanted." I actually wasn't sure if this letter was "anti-anti-gay" or just plain old anti-religion, or specifically anti-LDS. It was a great example, though, of how we can be so adamant about the "wrong" or "right" about a topic, we can actually become the very discriminatory, biased thing we despise. Yes, Evergreen International is LDSbased, but it was mistakenly presented as being from the LDS Church. Evergreen International is merely, as it says on the Web site, a resource organization for LDS people concerning the topic of unwanted same-sex attraction. Actually not run by the church at all. Concerning thetopicofhomosexuality, consider where you are: Utah. Of all the gay people in Utah, consider the portion of their population who might not want to be gay, and then consider how many of those people are actually LDS. Probably most of them, wouldn't you say? I used to fit into that category myself - LDS gay person who didn't want to be gay. I had a lot to deal with. Thankfully, I'm not there anymore. No, I'm not a disgruntled Mormon. I'm quite active in the church. But my identity is OK including "gay," even if I don't act on it because of my religious beliefs. I can say that I am happy where I am in large part due to organizations like Evergreen. Though I don't require the support any longer, I, for one, am glad they are there. Anyway, I'm not against anyone here, but I think it's important to watch our own biases and watch how we become the very thing we despise sometimes in our passion. You were right, there are some people, even on WSU campus, who do not want to be gay. Who are we to bash their possible sources of support? If you see an ad that doesn't apply to you, simply skip it. Why waste so much time and energy on something you find so sickening? - Kim Mack WSU student Letter-writers more offensive than ad An editorial published Sept. 17 complained that The Signpost printed an "anti-gay" ad. The writers suggested the ad was "hateful," calling it "discriminatory, biased propaganda." Effortlessly I was able to obtain the ad mentioned. I found the complaining editorial to be more hateful and offensive than the ad was. The advertisement read in full: ARE YOU AFFECTED by unwanted Same-SexAttraction? Attend a conference designed to help leave SSA behind. www.evergreen-intl.org 801-363-3837. This ad should be less offensive to homosexuals than a commercial for weight loss could be to people overweight. There are homosexuals who struggle with unwanted Same-Sex Attractions. Perhaps the ad is not the help all homosexuals want; so they need not call. But the ad may be an extending hand of help to others. Do not censure the help others are looking for because of your personal beliefs. Had the ad promoted physical changes to fit a person's sexual drives, I doubt there would have been hostile complaints. Why then is it so offensive to promote changing the sexual drives to fit the physiology of a person? - Chad McBride WSU student Read more letters on page 14 in this issue and in Friday's edition. Send your letters to THESIGNPOST@WEBER.EDl7. . Please include your name and phone number. |
