‘God Hates Fags’ group to speak to journalism classes
Four members of the Westboro Baptist Church will speak Monday to three Central Michigan University journalism classes taught by Prof. Timothy Boudreau.
“I try to bring [controversial speakers] in because students routinely claim to be great advocates of free speech,” the professor told me in a phone interview this afternoon. “This is a real test of their commitment to free expression.” (He had Pastor Terry Jones speak last semester.)
Timothy Boudreau
Boudreau, who also invited Westboro members speak in 2010, adds: “I think they’re way out there — they inhabit what I call the outer limits of the First Amendment — and I disagree with they say but I defend their right to say it.”
The group will be speaking to two sections of a Mass Communications in Contemporary Society class, and a Media Law class.
“A couple of student said they didn’t think the group deserved a forum or venue, and that they opposed them coming [to class]. I’ve given them the option of opting out and doing an alternate assignment.”
So far two students out of 150 have said they won’t attend.
His colleagues’ reaction to his Westboro speakers?
“The first time [they were invited] there may have been one or two or folks in the department who just questioned it. They weren’t opposed; they were just trying to figure it out. I don’t want to say I’m the resident rabble-rouser, but they know that this is what I do.”
What about protests?
“I was just talking with student newspaper editor about that. I haven’t heard much, but he thinks there will be some sort of protest. I’ve been asking my students, checking Facebook and that sort of thing, and the long and short of it is I’m not expecting a lot of noise.”
Campus security will be in his classes with the group speaks.
His thoughts on the group?
“Once they get off what I call their hate soapbox, they’re kind of normal people. They’re not unlikeable. It’s not as if they have horns and a tail.”
What’s the assignment?
“I don’t give them an actual assignment. I’ll give them a feedback sheet, then we’ll have what I call a debriefing session during Wednesday’s class.”
The school will not be paying the church members for their transportation or appearance, which will be live-streamed at 2 p.m. ET Monday by Central Michigan Life, the campus newspaper. (“The last time they insisted on paying for lunch with a couple of my students,” Boudreau told me. “They seem to have a lot of money.”)
* Westboro Baptist Church to return to Central Michigan University
* “I was lucky enough to see Westboro the first time” they were at CMU
This is a great idea. Kudos to this man for inviting people with a radically different worldview to his class. I agree, their views and the way they express them are repugnant to me personally, but journalists must learn to step beyond their own parochialism.
Central Michigan and Central Michigan Life — continuing to inhabit the lower limits of basement journalism.
Best way to expose cockroaches is to turn on a bright light.
My only suggestion would be to follow up by inviting a couple of the families of military members whose funerals these maggots protested so they can begin to figure out how they actually cover such things when they get out in the real world.
I’m just wondering if the class will understand the difference between something that is newsworthy, and something that’s publicity-based. The church is evidently looking to evangelize (publicity) — but, as in every case, we ask ourselves, is it worth covering? I will be interested in finding out the students’ initial reaction and whether they would deem it worthy of coverage.
Editrix, very few of those things are analyzed at universities, and I would assume CMU is no exception to that rule.
There should be a course in “Things not to cover.”
Check passings, ground breakings, beauty contests, political groups that exist only because of (and for) press coverage …
“I try to bring [controversial speakers] in because students routinely claim to be great advocates of free speech,” the professor told me in a phone interview this afternoon. “This is a real test of their commitment to free expression.”
The Constitution, as interpreted by multiple Supreme Courts, puts a limit on free expression. I am not allowed to falsely shout “Fire!” in a theater, I am not allowed to publish troop movements or similar military details during time of war, I am not allowed to slander or libel, and so forth.
There is a difference between defending opinions that are unpopular and opinions that have no basis in rational thought or behavior. And when you base your actions on a series of stories passed down by oral tradition and translated through multiple languages — to the point where someone who started out as a “young woman” ends up a “virgin” due to bad translation — what you’ve got isn’t an opportunity to explore differences, it’s just a mess.
WBC’s opinions start from “facts” that cannot be proved or disproved. I would think a college professor would be capable enough to realize that such a flaw is a removable factor in his otherwise well-intended consciousness-raising attempt.
There are many groups whose various notions are no less alarming than WBC’s but which can be grounded more readily in observable data. The Climate Deniers come to mind. Their poisoning of the well is easily going to have planet-wide repercussions in a few more decades, far more significant an effect than the tiny cluster of people who form the WBC.
We need journalism schools for what, again? What is the body of knowledge these students are paying to learn? How to be a jerk?
Journalists should be able to interview every sort of people — fascists, communists, terrorists, rapists, mass murderers, anti-Semites, would-be slaveholders — anyone who has committed or advocated acts that would have serious implications on the nation for good or ill. They should be able (and allowed) to interrogate the interviewees in depth and at length so they can inform the public as to their deeds, their plans and their motivations. If journalism schools don’t teach students these techniques then what should they do? Teach them to parrot the conventional wisdom and ask the approved questions of carefully-vetted subjects so they can hope someday to fill a slot in the News Hour?
“Sunshine is the best disinfectant.” Remember?