The Gauntlet is the student newspaper at the University of Calgary. It just happens to be the same paper that my brother worked as the Photo Editor while he went to school there (2001-2004). Controversy is nothing new to student newspapers, but today I read about some misdirected anger.
Two editors are being suspended without pay because they allowed an article to be published which was accompanied a photo of a nude woman. The woman had paraded through the U of C food court completely naked except for a chain mail bikini as part of a student union sponsored sexual health awareness event.
In a response published in the Gauntlet by News Editor Dale Miller, one of the suspended, he defends his actions by explaining that the outcry should be directed towards the ones creating the event, not the ones reporting it.
“The performers were hired by the SU to put on the show, they chose their own outfits and performed in a public environment, in front of both media and the University population,” said Miller.
“I didn’t try and shock you by allowing these women to walk around naked, the SU did. I merely reported it, and brought the controversy to the larger student population.”
To top it all off the student portrayed in the picture has demanded that the Gauntlet be shut down. She feels the picture violates her rights in some way – never mind the fact that she was the one willingly prancing around naked in public and that the Students’ Union allowed participants to chose their own outfits. Seems like she may just want to jump on the controversy band-wagon. Maybe she’s trying to run up publicity for her night job as an exotic dancer; all I can say is “talk about someone giving mixed messages”.