Editor of Emerson humor magazine claims ignorance

After Emerson College students leveled hate speech accusations last night against the staff of the college’s humor magazine, Hyena, Editor Matt LaTorre publicly apologized to anyone who felt offended by the publication’s content.

However, LaTorre did not apologize for printing Hyena’s racist, sexist, sacrilegious and homophobic remarks.

“I would like to apologize to the people who were offended by this publication,” said LaTorre, a junior. “I am not apologizing for our intent. Our intent is not to harass, to make fun ... or to make people feel bad. That was not our intent to make anyone offended whatsoever.”

In the fall semester issue of Hyena, LaTorre and his staff published a magazine filled with defamatory remarks against different races, religions and sexual orientation. The magazine not only mentioned specific ethnic groups and religions, but it also pinpointed several Emerson students as a focus of ridicule.

The publication raised conflicting issues of “civility and diversity” and “creativity and free expression.” The forum was held last night to hear students’ views on the issues and what the consequences should be for the Hyena.

“This is a classic confrontation between two sets of values that are very important to Emerson,” said David Rosen, Emerson’s associate vice-president for public affairs.

During the forum, students reflected on their reactions to the Hyena. Held in Emerson’s Cabaret, where there was standing room only, the majority of the students expressed how offended they were by the Hyena’s “jokes.”

When LaTorre responded with the excuse that they meant no harm by the material and they were “only words,” the students questioned whether or not the Hyena would make amends.

“Race, religion and sexuality—seriously are not that big of a deal,” he said.

LaTorre also said the staff pleaded ignorant, stating that because no one on the staff is a journalism major, they did not know that it was unethical to print such hate words.

The college distributes $3,300 per year to the Hyena to allow for the printing of 1,000 copies per semester. Because this money comes out of students’ tuition, many students asked the Student Government Association, the group in charge of funding on-campus organizations, to cut the funding for the publication.

Along with the option of cutting the funding, the students made suggestions for other ways to deal with this problem and ensure that it doesn’t happen again in the future.

Included in these suggestions were plans to send out ballots for all Emerson students to vote on cutting the funding, hold seminars with local legal and communications professionals to teach students about ethics in journalism, and put the Hyena on a probation that involves cutting the funding until they change their content.

“I think they messed up,” said junior Sarah Quigley, a public relations major. “If they mess up again, then they shouldn’t exist.”

Boston University students said the Hyena clearly appeared hateful and offensive in its content.

“That’s just not acceptable at all,” said College of Arts and Sciences junior Clare Lembo. “That’s offensive. Even though none of them would apply to me, it could apply to my friends; it could apply to people I know. And the fact that Emerson would even allow them to publish something like that is degrading and obscene.”

Professor of comedy writing and former Emerson student Michael Bent is the advisor to the Hyena. Students questioned his authority in the forum, though he was not present to rebut.