Aprils Fools has seen its last edition

By:

Shandra Jordan

J.J. Babb

Patrick Crossland

Christopher J. Ortiz

The last time the Collegian printed an April’s Fools Day edition

was in 2002. It included stories about Britney Spears eloping with

P. Diddy and other jokes of the same nature.

Three student newspaper were shut down this year after printing

a spoof edition. They included parodies about Mel Gibson’s “The

Passion of the Christ” and racially charged stories and

cartoons.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

and the Urban League followed with complaints to the University of

Nebraska at Omaha after it printed, “Gateway camera stolen during

weekend” with the byline of Mindjo Bidness, CNN reports.

As a professional publication, our goal is to minimize harm by

carefully considering the content of every issue. If the content we

are putting in is fictional, it does the reader no good and the

risk of unintentionally offending someone is even greater.

The Collegian decided not to print an April’s Fools Day edition

because the editorial board feels the spoofs tarnish the reputation

the paper works hard to achieve throughout the entire year.

It is just too easy to offend and upset readers with these kinds

of editions.

They can be funny, but jokes are always at someone else’s

expense and the role of a newspaper is not to alienate readers and

make them feel badly about themselves or a group they are

affiliated with.