How dare Steve Schirra criticize Kanye West for being on a “soapbox” and then proceed to leverage his Forum editor position to do the exact same thing. I don’t understand how he can see a public debate over possibly biased captions as a “waste of time.”

Are we all obligated to just focus on the effects of the disaster and turn a blind eye to anything else? It is not a question of a sole racist photographer; it is a question of media control. Schirra certainly, as a so-called “journalist,” would be aware that media is not the unbiased fact reporting machine he seems to think it is. I find more “vomit” in the highly spun and twisted headlines of Fox News and other major “news” organizations than in any given blog. Those photos had those captions for a reason and people should be questioning it.

Or maybe it was just an illusion due to the spread of “misinformation?” It seems to me that Schirra, again as a so-called “journalist,” is lashing out at bloggers out of fear that publishing and providing journalism is no longer in the hands of a few, select journalists like himself. Let the people decide what is important to them, Steve, not you nor NBC nor CNN nor Fox. Solely focusing on a disaster or a conflict is just a misdirection away from other issues that deserve attention, too. Not all of us have one-track minds or fall into that trap; some of us are able to have compassion for the disaster victims and question the circumstances surrounding the event. Questioning things is an important step in gaining knowledge. I’m glad there are people out there choosing to not turn a blind eye.

Demetrio Aspiras

Senior English Major