Editor, the Gauntlet,
Re: "Puppets from down under," March 7, 2002,
I was disgusted by the display of full-frontal nudity on the front page of the March 7 issue of Gauntlet. There is a reason why these areas are also referred to as the "private parts." That is because most people, including myself, don’t want to see them displayed in public.
There will always be those who want to waste their time and money giggling like six-year-olds at the pathetic antics of two grown men who can find nothing better to do with their lives than play with themselves in public. If someone chooses to do this that’s one thing, but it is something else entirely when opens the pages of the Gauntlet-freely available in public areas frequented by children-and is faced with a picture as vulgar as this one.
Doesn’t the Gauntlet have any kind of standards at all?
This story could have easily been covered without a photo, or at least one with no nudity. Do the editors seriously think that this story was the most pressing and important issue for students and staff and therefore deserved the entire front page, while stories about day care on campus and the SU elections are relegated to the back pages?
If so, I question their understanding of the term "newsworthy." Shame on the Gauntlet for caving in to shock value and sensationalism at the expense of real journalism that manages to inform the public while respecting community values.