Two weeks ago, I was invited to appear on On Target, WDCR-AM's hour-long public affairs show which normally airs Sundays at 6:00 p.m.
Other invited guests included Student Assembly President Nicole Artzer '94, SA Vice President Steve Costalas '94, Class of 1995 President Tim Rodenberger '95, former SA Executive Committee member Jesse Russell '96, and SA Representatives Grant Bosse '94 and Jeff Bell '96.
Costalas and Bell were unable to attend the taping on Sunday afternoon so the show was set to take place with Artzer, Russell, Bosse, Rodenberger, myself and moderator Bill Hall '96.
The topics for debate were to include the formation of the Student Assembly Ad Hoc Committee on Procedure, the Student Assembly agenda for the year, and the future of the Reserve Officer Training Corps program on campus.
At 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, I arrived at WDCR's studios to tape the program. Unfortunately, Jesse Russell had to cancel at the last minute due to illness, and Nicole Artzer was nowhere to be found more than a half-hour after the program was supposed to begin. Due to Artzer's absence, Steve Costalas volunteered to sit in as a last minute replacement despite his busy afternoon schedule.
The program turned out to be a lively and spirited discussion of a variety of issues affecting students at Dartmouth.
We debated the present course of the Student Assembly, the question of cutting the SA's budget, the controversy surrounding the ROTC program, and possible plans for condom distribution in the dorms.
Eager to listen to the broadcast, I turned my radio dial to 1340 AM around 6:00 p.m. that evening. At that time, I was stunned to learn that the week's installment of On Target had been canceled. Within a few minutes, I was informed by BlitzMail that the individual in charge of programming at the radio station had decided to pull the program because the views expressed were "too conservative."
I immediately became enraged for two reasons. To begin with, the two hour taping had been a complete waste of time. I would have much rather spent my Sunday afternoon watching football or doing work for classes rather than taping a radio program that was never going to air.
Second and more importantly, however, the radio station's decision to cancel the program amounted to little more than old-fashioned censorship. One person, a leftist member of Panarchy undergraduate society, did not like many of the views expressed on the program and therefore unilaterally decided to pull the plug.
While the panelists on the broadcast tended to gravitate to the center-right politically, this fact was neither the fault of the show's producers nor a just cause to shelve the program. Representatives of the more liberal elements of the Student Assembly had accepted invitations to appear on the program. It can hardly be blamed on the show's producers that the individuals in question either canceled at the last minute or just did not show up for the taping.
As Tim Rodenberger remarked, it is hard to believe that an episode of "The McLaughlin Group" or "Crossfire" would be pulled from the air because certain guests backed out at the last second. It should be the producer's responsibility to make a good faith attempt to have all sides of the political spectrum represented, not to send out armed gangs to force guests to appear on the program.
Furthermore, the show was anything but an ideological pep rally. On virtually every issue, significant disagreement emerged from the discussion. Most of the topics examined were far more student issues than political ones, and a wide variety of intelligent student perspectives were represented on the panel.
In short, no justifiable reason exists for canceling the program. Dartmouth's two radio stations should be dedicated to the free and open expression of all ideas, even conservative ones. The fact that those in charge of WDCR-AM would seek to censor certain thoughts they consider to be "too conservative" is irresponsible in the extreme.
As a result of this incident, On Target's producer has resigned in protest. While the station is considering airing those portions of the program deemed suitable for listeners, such an outcome is far from acceptable.
WDCR-AM should air the entire On Target episode in question as soon as possible. Any other solution would be a victory for the close-minded practice of censorship and a defeat for the ideal of intellectual freedom.
