Some April Fools' jokes are just not funny. Just ask three college newspapers who are facing harsh consequences for publishing offensive April Fools' Day editions.
Carnegie Mellon University's newspaper, The Tartan, printed an April Fools' Day edition which included a racially charged cartoon, a depiction of female genitalia and poems about rape and mutilation, according to the Associated Press. After readers protested, The Tartan voluntarily quit its operation for the rest of the semester.
After parodying Mel Gibson's \The Passion of the Christ,"" college administrators and fellow Jesuit institution Georgetown University, the University of Scranton's newspaper The Aquinas was suspended from publication, the Associated Press reported.
The University of Nebraska- Omaha's college newspaper, The Gateway, entitled its April Fools' Day edition The Ghettoway and included fabricated stories written by journalists such as Ono Udidn and Mindjo Bidness.
""We as a staff didn't come out with the publication with intent to harm or offend any one group or person,"" The Gateway Editor in Chief Josie Lopez said. ""Any of the content in there was definitely supposed to be taken lightly and humorously.""
According to Lopez, the news articles were written to satirically comment on the way races are stereotyped. Lopez said two blacks came into the paper's offices and complained.
""I think satire can be very offensive at times, however the most offensive can be some of the funniest,"" said Katy Culver, a UW-Madison journalism professor. ""You have to be careful in producing satire like this. Part of the problem with college journalists doing it is that they're not experienced at it and people are used to seeing them peddling information, not peddling satire.""
Jerry Zaboski, University of Scranton director of public relations and publications, said the students' publication board, comprised of students, faculty, staff members, external media professionals and alumni, voted to suspend the operations of The Aquinas. Zaboski said the university is the paper's publisher and is ultimately responsible for it.
""We've really tried to see this situation as an opportunity to help our students to reflect on what it means to be a good student newspaper,"" Zaboski said. ""We think it's important to always try to find that opportunity. Even if a situation is unfortunate we still want to use it as a teaching opportunity.\
