There's no denying that the front-page apology on Monday's Post points to a colossal mistake made by a paper where I'm proud to have spent three years. There's also no denying that the unfortunate damage potentially made to Mr. Gunasekera's reputation outweighs the sizeable dent lodged in the credibility of The Post, as respectable a front-and-center retraction may be. I also understand the validation and, to quote Woody Allen, feelings of a small personal triumph some people in the university might feel by seeing The Post make such a mistake, and it goes without saying that the paper might have an uphill battle in getting back to where it belongs. I still lost my lunch a bit, however, seeing Mr. Corriher of the athletic department suggest greater (or any) oversight by members of this university. I'm sure that's what many so-called members of the university would love to see, especially a beleaguered athletic department that provided regular news unrelated to wins and losses when I was there, but the paper prides itself on being independent of the university and that's the only way it has been able to remain as consistently high-quality. With occasional lapses in judgment? Yes. All papers have them, and they deserve every bit of criticism rained down as a result. But Mr. Corriher's letter points to a greater problem he seems to have, along with many members of the university: a blatant lack of respect for writers and editors aged 18-22 who, I assure you, are more concerned about creating a high-quality, comprehensive resource five days a week than desperately trying to break that big story ' though if there is one, they're front and center to make sure people know about it as they deserve to.
Pick up the phone for a change and respect them as the knowledge-hungry and reasonable adults they are. You're members of a public university that is an important cog in the machine that is this state, and you deserve to, as Mr. Rouan says, be held accountable, just as The Post does for this error.
Matt Burns is a former assistant managing editor for The Post.
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Letter to the Editor
