U. Wisconsin papers refuse Pro-Life ads
To say that the information does not provide a service is bizarre. That is exactly what it does provide. It's a very weak and transparent excuse for leftist bias
"Two University of Wisconsin System school newspapers are under fire for rejecting an advertisement offer from Pro-Life Wisconsin on the basis of avoiding controversy. Both the Advance-Titan of UW-Oshkosh and The Pointer of UW-Stevens Point decided not to run a 12-page insert created by the Human Life Alliance because both papers believed the insert would cause an unnecessary controversy while not providing a direct service.
“(The decision) actually had nothing to do with the content that was in there; I sat down with my advisor and advertising manager and we discussed it,” Andrew Munger, editor in chief of the Advance-Titan, said. “They don’t provide a service of any sort, just an ideology.” According to Munger, to call this decision censorship is ludicrous since the newspaper makes public their right to print and advertise as they see fit.
The Pointer also chose not to run the advertisement. Editor in Chief Jacob Mathias likewise said they did not run the advertisement because the content did not provide a service, yet the decision was also made to avoid controversy, he added.
Peggy Hamill, director of Wisconsin Right to Life, said she believes by not placing the advertisement, the two schools are showing a bias. “They obviously have that right to do so; however, if they consider themselves a non-biased newspaper of integrity, then common sense would tell them they should be accepting an advertising piece of such researched information,” Hamill said.
The insert contains information regarding topics such as abortion and its relation to breast cancer, types of abortions and how to cope with an unwanted pregnancy. “The main service we provide to the students and general public is information on the sanctity of human life, healthy choices for people, health risks and scientific facts surrounding humanity of the preborn,” Hamill said.
Source
Bodies receiving government funding are bound by the 1st Amendment and the newspapers above presumably are funded by the taxpayer via the university so a 1st Amendment lawsuit could well be successful
8 comments:
I hate defending the University of Wisconsin, but I don't think the first amendment compels them to accept every advertisement. Otherwise every college newspaper would have ads for quick abortions, porn, beer, nudie bars, holocaust denial, cigarettes, etc.
Freedom of speech gives you the right to speak and write, it doesn't give you the right to be heard and published.
You're right Gary, except in the case of political speech, and this ad can clearly be seen as that. Disagreeing with it's content doesn't change that fact.
Gary is right about it not giving you the right to be heard and published, however as to his statement about college newspapers having ads for quick abortions, porn, beer, etc.... I have yet to read a newspaper from any public college that did not have advertisements for all of these every single week (with the exception of holocaust denial, which I have seen ads for forums on that in most at least once per school year in college newspapers in AZ, FL, CA, OK, OH, which are the states of interest for me for various reasons).
If they want to deny the ad, fine but tell the truth as to why you won't run it. Informing women of documented health risks inherrent in abortion is providing a service.
It's funny how the Left beleives that spreading their propaganda is a service.
I just think this opens pandora's box, if you have to accept pro-life advertising then you have to accept ALL advertising, no matter where it comes from.
Tough one.
Obviously I am opposed to view-point discrimination (so that if they accepted pro-'choice' ads they've be stuffed) but I also support the paper's right to chose its advertisers - however, this is qualified by the fact that these are public universities and supported by government funds...
How about a special 'abortion' issue giving both sides the right to plug their line???
The newspapers at public universities are not supported by public funds. They fund themselves which is why many university newspapers are in debt. Therefore, it is their right to choose whether or not to run an ad just like any newspaper across the country.
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