Holocaust Denial in the Harvard Paper (Oops.)

by Michelle . · 2009-09-11 15:11:00 UTC
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The editors of Harvard's school newspaper have found themselves under a rather unfortunate spotlight this week, after running an ad from noted Holocaust denier Bradley R. Smith challenging readers to provide proof of the existence of gas chambers.

The editor of Harvard Crimson quickly apologized, claiming that the ad placement was the result of "miscommunication and failed oversight," and that an earlier decision not to run the ad "fell through the cracks" during the summer vacation.

I'm intrigued by this crack -- it's been a while since I was on a school newspaper staff, but my recollection of the lay-out and design process is that it is a rather painstaking endeavor, involving inserting articles, photos, and ads and shifting columns and boxes around until the spread is just right. Perhaps technology has improved sense my days with PageMaker (and I certainly hope that it has), but I can't help but wonder: How did such an ad get dropped on a page in the first place?

I'd be willing to bet that this baptism-by-fire experience will make obsessive proofreaders out of the aspiring journalists. Hopefully the rest of the school year will be notably lacking in material for CNN.

Michelle . has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns.
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