Publish rejected column with editor's rationale

TO THE EDITOR:

I regret the decision of Danny Randolph to resign as opinions columnist of The Daily Tar Heel because of the editorial decision to deny publication of one of his columns.

The column which I have read regrets that the campus at large including the coverage in The Daily Tar Heel often tends to overlook or downplay larger and pressing social issues beyond the borders of our self-contained and tranquil campus.

He cites in particular the newspaper's retrained coverage of the recent crisis in the country's financial markets with its looming implications for all of us.

Though the tone of the column is measured and reflective it does contain a criticism of the paper in which the column was destined to appear.

The decision to deny publication has all the appearances therefore of an attempt to suppress public criticism.

Why not publish the column and encourage the editor to public beside it her own reasons for rejecting it?

In that way instead of arresting the free exchange of differing opinions the newspaper can allow its readers to form their own opinions in the very tradition that the masthead of the editorial page indicates" ""115 years of editorial freedom.""



George Lensing

Mann Family Professor of English and Comparative Literature

Director" Office of Distinguished Scholarships