Beware of Student Newspapers. They Are Just as Biased as the Liberal Media

The mainstream media has waged a witch hunt against libertarians and conservatives, and now student publications are taking part in this witch hunt as well. Concordia College seniors Liam Nuhring and Ian Lane were featured on the front page of Concordia’s newspaper, The Concordian, after their gun rights student group had been announced. The very next week, another article popped up. In essence, the article attempted to delegitimize Liam and Ian not by addressing gun rights, but by completely delegitimizing their case. From the words of Liam and Ian:

Liam – “Several weeks ago a front page article was written about the proposed NRA affiliated chapter on campus, to be represented and led by myself, as well as Ian Lane. Several weeks later (Dec. 8th) a response article was submitted and published by the Concordia College School Newspaper The Concordian. In this satirical article, written about the proposed ‘Cannon Club,’ Ian Lane and myself were very clearly highlighted and called out, not specifically, but it was very obviously implied.”

Ian – “Several weeks ago, Liam and I initiated the process of starting an NRA affiliated group on campus. Rumors began to spread on campus and our campus publication became curious. Liam and I were interviewed about the project and later an article about our forming organization made the front page of our campus newspaper. Since then, the efforts to form the NRA chapter have been met with public scrutiny and the NRA has not yet provided us with sufficient national support to be accepted as a campus organization. Recently Liam and I participated in a gun control debate in our US Politics class, of which members of our on-campus publication also attend. Following the debate, one of the writers for the campus publication wrote a satirical article – ad libbing the NRA organization article and replacing any mention of guns with cannons. The comparison alluded to the idea that Liam and I were crazy for bringing a gun-related organization to campus. Liam and I became dissatisfied with the article because it mocked us, and that our organization has not even been officially recognized on campus.”

Here is the original article: http://theconcordian.org/2016/11/03/nra-at-concordia

Here is the response to it so called “Journalist” Jenna Scarbrough posted: http://theconcordian.org/2016/12/08/new-concordia-cannon-club

As seen by the two links, the similarities are obvious.

Other than having classes with each other, Nuhring and Lane have no personal history with the writer.

Although Scarbrough does not have a history of this, it seems that the Leftist presence at Concordia has not been so kind to students. When I asked about if the school or the student did anything similar to this, Nuhring responded — “It is difficult to express or highlight specific events in which things of this nature have occurred, however the Concordian has such a left leaning bias based on their coverage, that outside organizations have urged us to start and promote an alternative, less biased student news publication.”

Trust in the media is at an all-time low. It seems that this article has already put a dent into the reputation of The Concordian. Since the article was published, 18 one-star reviews flooded the Facebook page, which prompted support from liberals and communists within the university. Catherine McMullen, a professor at Concordia and advisor to the paper, claimed that by criticizing the publication, we were violating their freedom of speech. I don’t think she realizes that freedom of speech is also granted to people with whom she disagrees. McMullen also gave me her number after making incendiary comments regarding me in a comment thread.

If you look at my description on the Meet the Team page, I am involved in multiple libertarian organizations, so of course it is fairly obvious why I care about this issue.

When I asked what there is to blame for this, Liam and Ian gave equally true answers:

Liam: “Certainly mainstream media outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, and others have set a
precedent for biased and unbalanced journalism practices. This is clearly involved in
influencing smaller news publications across the country, but specifically on college
campuses.”

Ian: “I think that the left-leaning narrative and culture on college campuses is
primarily driving this type of behavior, while the mainstream media is certainly not
helping.”

In a vocal interview, Liam called to my attention of a “libertarian and conservative witch hunt that is furnishing intolerance directed towards those that follow right-wing ideologies.” Being a libertarian college student and having seen the reaction of Concordia students and staff alike, I can certainly see this witch hunt in action. Perhaps the Minnesota HQ for the war against freedom is indeed at Concordia University.

When I asked Ian and Liam about the results they desire from this incident, these were their answers.

Liam: “I want this to spread like wildfire. People, our fellow citizens, and more importantly
college students need to recognize what’s at stake here. They need to stand up and be
proud of their opinions and beliefs, despite the criticism they may receive.”

Ian: “I would like this type of activity to be met with the same type of criticism which it
perpetuates. The writer of this article had every right to express her opinion, just as Liam
and I have the right to publicly respond.”

So no, Professor McMullen, we do not want to impede upon your personal favorites’ freedom of speech. But we most certainly want you to recognize our freedom of speech. We want open dialogue. We want to express our opinion. Perhaps a right-wing media source on campus is the answer.

Ian and Liam have both advocated for freedom of speech. Liam has said that “Everyone has the explicit right to voice their feelings and opinions.” Ian has said that free speech “is valuable to the functioning of our society and it should not be infringed. Speech that mocks any individual is protected, but is also subject to scrutiny.” These guys are completely pro-free speech. As am I. Any accusation otherwise is a red herring. We simply want to put the spotlight on the explicit bias and ostracism that conservatives and libertarians face on college campus.

For Nuhring, this incident is just the beginning. He has received multiple personal attacks for fighting for gun rights and for calling out the poor nature of this piece of journalism.

 

Liam, however, has also received support from liberals that support honest journalism and free speech.

Ian had no response when I asked if he had been attacked for this as well. Make of that what you will.

When asked why this is not just satire, but mockery, Ian said “Satire becomes mockery, direct shaming of the individual, pretty quickly when the ideas that the satire are dealing with become less important. Satire is about discussing the issues, mockery is about picking on an individual or group of individuals.”

In essence, you have the right to mock, but don’t be surprised when mockery hurts your reputation and legitimacy as a journalist.

“It starts with recognizing the issues at hand across college campuses throughout this country, from the east to the west coast, and everywhere in between. Recognizing and bringing to light these unjust issues will hopefully create awareness and recognition of future conflicts, so that the publications can be more often held accountable.” Liam said this in regards to stopping instances like this from happening again.

For a bit of humor, I asked Liam and Ian for their views on cannon control.

Liam – “I stand in unwavering support of the right to bear cannons, as it is fundamental in the protection of a free state, as well as the protection of our first amendment rights.”

Ian – “Cannon control is a waste of taxpayer dollars and would save very few, if any, lives.”

If the media will be biased for the authoritarians, I will be biased for libertarians. Ian and Liam were unfairly targeted. This is one of thousands of stories of liberal bias on college campuses and outright bigotry from the Left. Action must be taken against this. If the Left won’t be unbiased (I personally think being unbiased is impossible) then the Right must show their cards.

It is okay to be biased, if you are open about it. But The Concordian and other publications conceal their biases, and I say enough! It is time to wage war against they that conceal their bias. It is time for libertarian journalism to thrive. It is time to show that it is better to show your bias. Express your opinions openly, otherwise you will just be attempting to hide your opinions.

Ian. Liam. Start a right wing newspaper at Concordia. Everyone, support those that are objective and/or openly express their bias and uphold respect in journalism. And destroy those that do not. The Concordian thinks you are stupid and cannot see the underlying anti-liberty message they send. Show them that they are wrong.