“Even Red State Colleges Bend to Anti-Semitism”

The editor-in-chief of Middle Tennessee State University’s student newspaper, Sidelines, has resigned because of the editorial board’s unspoken anti-Semitism.

Writing for The College Fix, former Sidelines Editor-in-Chief Matthew Giffin explained that the drama began to unfold after he published a story “profiling an MTSU student concerned about his friends in Tel Aviv.”

The piece attracted a massive backlash from the school’s anti-Semitic students on Instagram, prompting the student he had profiled to ask him to take down the post for his own safety. To Giffin’s credit, he complied with the request.

But that’s when the trouble started…

My last for @CollegeFix:

Even red state colleges fold to anti-Semitism. I experienced it first hand.https://t.co/D7Bytn6hTO

— Matthew Giffin (@MattGiffin) November 14, 2023

The board then decided on its own to release a statement condemning the threats the unnamed student faced, but also challenging the legitimacy of Giffin’s article.

“On October 27th, MTSU Sidelines published a profile of a student who expressed his alliance with Israel after the Hamas attack that happened on October 7th. The goal of Sidelines is to cover the news fairly. In the future, we will make sure to include different points of view,” the statement said.

“The article has been removed from the website out of concern for the interview subject’s safety. The article was not MTSU picking sides, it was based on an interview and a student’s experience. Sidelines condemns any action to cause harm in response to an expressed opinion. In a divided world, there must be room for civil discourse. People must feel free to express their opinions without fear of being hurt,” he continue

“In retrospect, Sidelines failed to report on the casualties suffered by the Palestinian people and focused only on the harm done to the Israeli population.“, concludes the statement.

Giffin was not satisfied with this last statement.

“Even though we posted my profile story on the Sidelines website days before I posted it on Instagram, the editors and faculty advisor didn’t say I had ‘underreported’ anything until the article garnered more comments than I’ve ever seen. a Sidelines piece, almost all from the ‘Free Palestine’ crowd,” he wrote for The College Fix.

“The editors who worked on the statement and our faculty advisor ignored my several protests against their wording. Unable to stand behind a dishonest and harmful portrayal of my history, I resigned,” he added .

In a statement to Fox Newshe further noted that he had “decided to resign because I felt that the statement that the editorial board and the faculty advisor put out was something that I could not stand.”

“I don’t think they are bad people or anti-Semitic; I think anti-Semitism played a disproportionate role in how the events of the paper unfolded. I still intend to write and speak about things that are important, whatever the consequences “, he said.

“Telling the truth is a lost practice, and I would like to recover it. Morality is important to the order and survival of our society. Our way of life will fail if we give in to the influence of those behind terrorists like Hamas,” he continued.

The good news is that some big power players have taken note of her activism, including Tennessee Republican Rep. Scott DesJarlais and Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn.

Thanks @MarshaBlackburn i @DesJarlaisTN04 for the praise!

The rot of harmful ideologies like anti-Semitism among students at red state colleges is more evident than ever. Now is the time to say something about it.https://t.co/jCVAnSU2py

— Matthew Giffin (@MattGiffin) November 15, 2023

“It is abhorrent and outrageous that the sentiment among higher education faculty and the vast majority of students is terrorist sympathizers,” DesJarlais told The Tennessee Star.

“I commend Matthew for his reporting efforts that were unfortunately wasted by his editorial board and faculty advisor. People like him are needed now more than ever in today’s media,” he added.

Also speaking to the paper, Blackburn said: “I am deeply disturbed to learn of an incident at Middle Tennessee State University where a student spoke the truth and was forced into silence by Hamas sympathizers. It is also unacceptable to hear the management of the university who are aware of the situation, but do not get involved”.

He went on to argue that what happened is “part of a broader trend across the country where pro-Israel voices are afraid to speak in front of rabidly anti-Semitic students and teachers celebrating the actions of Hamas.”

“I am pleased that my bipartisan resolution condemning anti-Semitism on college campuses and calling on college administrators to act unanimously passed the Senate. Colleges and universities must crack down on anti-Semitism and protect their Jewish students regardless of the circumstances,” he said.

That said, in a statement to local media, Sidelines’ editorial board reportedly defended its recent actions.

“Sidelines denies silencing former editor-in-chief Matthew Giffin. Late last month, the student editorial board engaged in a timely and ethical discussion about the article in question and decided to release a statement explaining why it had article removed. In addition to addressing the threats to the student interviewed, the board also acknowledged an imbalance in the story’s reporting of casualties resulting from the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel. Our advisor to the faculty, Leon Alligood, did not advise us to withdraw the article,” they said.

“Our former editor-in-chief decided to retract the story before meeting with the editorial board and faculty advisor. Mr. Alligood did not advise the board to release a statement. After retracting article, we felt it necessary to provide an explanation to our readers. Sidelines is a publication where student journalists learn through real-world experiences like this. We continually strive for accuracy and balance. Thank you to our former colleague for his contributions and leadership of Sidelines and we wish him the best in all his future endeavors,” they added.

Senior Staff Writer
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V. Saxena is a writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

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