Dear Editor,
I am a transfer student from UT, where our student paper swings widely conservative. The student paper at ETSU, quite obviously, swings very liberal (as do a majority of the students).
The difference that I have noticed, however, is not merely political bias. There is a lack of professionalism in the East Tennessean that should be noted.
First and foremost, for good editorials, let’s have some variety.
I do not need to read about wiretapping again, or why Bush is an imbecile.
That’s what letters to the editor are for – to hear the same arguments over and over for the rest of the school year.
Editorials and opinions should come up with something a little more exciting that the students haven’t heard, maybe something along the lines of different world religion perspectives, or why coffee is better than tea.
An article explaining the benefits of using a Mac over a PC could still be controversial, but much more educational. It would inspire more intelligent dialog than the perpetual regurgitation of old political arguments.
Secondly, the East Tennessean should know better than to have captions such as “Things that piss me off” on the front page of a newspaper.
That is highly unprofessional, even if the article was well written.
A much more appropriate front-page caption would have been the subtitle, “Bush pushes for Middle East management of U.S. ports.”
This is an actual newspaper, not the weekly hangover.
As it is, the cover of the Thursday paper advertising pissers, low budget horror films, and a cover story telling you to “check your e-mail” leaves a taste of unprofessional journalism in the back of my mouth.
Brady Riedel

Author