A campus newspaper, in a recent issue, published material about sabotage of property that would create real risks to human safety. I considered that primer to be unconscionable and absolutely unacceptable, and I believe any reasonable person would agree with me. The newspaper then listed the names and addresses of individuals on campus and, by the context in which the names were included, in effect created risk that put these individuals’ safety and the safety of their families in peril.
None of our campus publications should ever publish material that in such a manner threatens any member of our community. This act was not only threatening to the individuals and their families but also to the extraordinarily valuable work done by these members of our community. That is, of course, the very intent of those who try to terrorize our colleagues.
Publications that print and distribute this kind of information cannot in good conscience cloak themselves in the First Amendment and think they can then avoid well-deserved censure. Responsible journalism engages in voluntary and ethical constraints. And responsible journalism is the only kind in which members of this community should engage.
Newspapers across the country (including our campus publications) voluntarily do not publish the names of rape or sexual assault victims. In only one state (and it is not Oregon) does the law does require that they do so. I call on campus publications to exercise this same good judgment and common sense in any case where the safety of a member of our campus community is placed at risk by what is published.
Am I calling for our campus publications to hold themselves to higher standards than perhaps the law itself does? Yes.
I am a lifelong student of and published author on First Amendment freedoms. I have and will continue to defend those freedoms. And I will continue to condemn those who show unconscionably bad judgment, as the campus newspaper did.