MediaWatch: November 1990
Table of Contents:
Conservative Student Newspaper Under Attack
DARTMOUTH REBUKE
The conservative Dartmouth Review was subjected to another round of media hostility when someone sabotaged the paper's front-page credo and replaced it with a quote from Adolf Hitler. Dartmouth officials failed to investigate the controversy, declaring the Review guilty of intentionally publishing the quote, as did a number of reporters. In his October 7 story, New York Times reporter Fox Butterfield allowed Times readers to get the impression the Hitler insertion was intentional, letting seven paragraphs elapse before allowing the Review to respond.
The Times and The Washington Post tried to build a case that the Hitler incident represented the latest in a long line of Review offenses against Jews, blacks, homosexuals, and women. Butterfield asserted the Review "sponsored a free champagne-and- lobster feast to coincide with a campus fast for the world's hungry." Wrong, former Review editor Dinesh D'Souza told MediaWatch. After publishing an article on how the fast's sponsor, Oxfam America, had used its money to finance political movements, the Review held a dinner to raise money for a real charity. Butterfield also asserted that in 1981 the Review "published a list of members of the school's Gay Students Association." Wrong. D'Souza said the Review published a list of the group's officers, who were required to list themselves to apply for student funds.
ABC's 20/20 took on the controversy on October 12, calling the Review "radical," "radical conservative," and "ultra-conservative." ABC's Bob Brown allowed two professors to attack the Review, but aired no comments from faculty defenders. But by letting Review editor Kevin Pritchett and former Dartmouth music professor William Cole to speak at length, ABC offered the most comprehensive view of the controversy n print or broadcast. After the story, Hugh Downs and reporter Bob Brown solemnly criticized the Review. "What a strange atmosphere to find in a place of higher learning, where you'd expect tolerance and openness," said Downs. Brown agreed: "I can't think of a worse place to operate in an atmosphere of confrontation than a university campus." Tell that to the students of the '60s.
