FORT COLLINS Colo.
Colorado State University’s student newspaper has lost $30,000 in advertising and had to cut pay and other budgets by 10 percent because of fallout from the use of a four-letter word in an editorial about President Bush, the Coloradoan reported Saturday.
In large type, the editorial included the words “Taser this … (expletive) Bush.” The editorial said it had the support of the Collegian’s editorial board.
“As local and national media will inevitably jump on this controversy, I strongly urge the university community to try and understand that the intentions of the students on staff, including me, were not to cause harm, but rather to reinforce the importance of free speech at our great institution,” Editor-in-Chief J. David McSwane said in a posting on the paper’s Web site Friday.
McSwane wrote, “My staff and I are extremely proud to be CSU students and members of this amazing community, and it is my sincere hope that our readers understand our intentions were not malicious.”
He told the Coloradoan he had no intention to quit, and that he had expected the editorial to draw a negative reaction.
The seven-member board’s vote to run the editorial was split, although he did not give the numbers.
