The Carillon apologizes (no, really)

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Kyle Leitch - Production Manager

Kyle Leitch – Production Manager

Student newspaper’s insensitivity reaches new lows

In our Sep. 5-11 issue, we ran a humour piece which, in no uncertain terms, compared Regina mayor Michael Fougere unfavourably to Frankenstein’s Monster.

Shortly after the issue ran, we received an email from the distraught subject of what we felt was a lighthearted parody.

“To whom it may concern,” the email began, “I’m sure the photo in your humour section was meant to be a joke, and in certain circles, it was probably exceptionally funny.” We could have stopped there, and congratulated each other on a job well done, but decided that we would keep reading, if only to maintain our “journalistic integrity”—or to make fun of gratuitous grammatical or other errors that cropped up.

“However, I am taking the time to email you to respectfully ask for a retraction,” the emailer continued. “I feel that any untoward acts of aggression, no matter their intent could be damaging to any future endeavors that I wish to pursue, be they professional or personal. Thank you for your consideration.”

Aw, buck up big guy. We said we'd apologize, and we did. / image: churchofhalloween.com

Aw, buck up big guy. We said we’d apologize, and we did. / image: churchofhalloween.com

Those of us reading the email sat in stunned silence for a moment. A room full of leftist student journalists in a liberal arts school felt bad about what we had published. Sometimes, we here at the Carillon underestimate our abilities. What we print can often be as hurtful as it can be helpful, if not more so.

In that spirit, we are taking this opportunity to publicly apologize for our flagrant disregard for the feelings of others. We overstepped our boundaries and, in the future, we will take all measures to ensure that this does not occur again. Rest assured, Frankenstein’s Monster, this newspaper will never compare you to Michael Fougere again.

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