Columnist Fired From Daily Collegian for Expressing Opinion
State College, PA October 18 2005: Daily Collegian opinion columnist Bryan Peach was dismissed yesterday, October 17 2005, for expressing his opinion that The Collegian, like many news outlets, lacks the global viewpoint necessary for an all-encompassing view of the news.

The column expressed concern over the way the Collegian and many other news outlets water down the news to make it more palatable to the interests of the organization and how such a practice shows disregard for the reader.

More than a week after the opinion column was published and nearly two weeks from the time the idea was pitched to Jen Winberry, the editor for the opinion section, Peach was asked to meet privately with Jennette Hannah, Editor-In-Chief of the Daily Collegian. The meeting was not discussed beforehand. Numerous requests via e-mail for Hannah to explain the importance of the meeting were ignored in subsequent replies.

Hannah decided to fire Peach from his position at the paper, citing the column as the reason for his termination. E-mails to Hannah and John Harvey, the staff adviser, for a written explanation concerning why he was required to leave have as yet been unreturned.

Included in the Collegian’s Style Manual and Code of Ethics is the statement that any sort of ethical predicament

“…becomes a real problem when it is hidden or ignored, not when it is handled maturely or with speed.”

According to Peach, nothing he did was in violation of the Code of Ethics despite the fact that

“…the final responsibility for ethical considerations and decisions rests with the editor in chief alone.”

Peach alleges that the Collegian “ironically” fired him from the opinion section due to an opinion he expressed, and in so doing proved the point he pontificated in his column. Because of this, he asserts that the Collegian expresses by and large the opinions of its editors.

He is seeking his position back and demanding an explanation from his editors as to why his rights of free speech were violated.

Attached is a link to the article, and contact information for Peach as well as the staff members of the Collegian involved in his release from the paper. For further information please contact Brandon W. Peach at bwp5003@psu.edu or at (717) 926-2962.

Brandon W. Peach – bwp5003@psu.edu; (717) 926-2962

Bryan D. Peach -- bdp5000@psu.edu

Jennette Hannah, Editor-In-Chief -- (814) 865-1828; jch260@psu.edu
Jen Winberry, Opinion Editor – (814) 865-1828; jenw@psu.edu

John Harvey, Adviser – jlh32@psu.edu

Links to the column:

[NOTE: The original link to the column in HTML format was REMOVED after this story broke. The original URL, http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2005/10/10-07-05tdc/10-07-05dops-column-01.asp, redirects the reader to another page.]

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2005/10/10-07-05tdc/10-07-05dop
- posted by SARTRE @ 7:45 AM