Editors, don’t change content

Last week I wrote a review of “After Ashley,” the play performed in the ’92 Theater the weekend of April 6. The editors received my article later than they may have expected, which was certainly my fault, and I take full responsibility for that. However, some serious editing was done to the review I wrote, and I wanted to make my original intentions for the review clear. One line of the version printed in the Argus read, “The ideas that propelled Gina Gionfriddo’s script are certainly pertinent and should continue to be in the aftermath of the recent death of celebrity Anna Nicole Smith.” I did not write that. I wrote, “The ideas that propelled Gina Gionfriddo’s script are certainly pertinent and should continue to be in the weeks following the recent horrific tragedy at Virginia Tech.” After Ashley explored the ways in which the media, hungry for ratings, exploits and manipulates the memory of victims of tragedy. After three days of watching anchors like Wolf Blitzer and Paula Zahn pretend to understand the profound tragedy the Virginia Tech victims and the families and friends of the victims suffered, I felt this comparison quite pertinent. Maybe the Argus editors believed this comparison to be untimely or too provocative, and that’s why they decided to change it. But to replace “recent horrific tragedy at Virginia Tech” with “recent death of celebrity Anna Nicole Smith” demeans the integrity of the play’s message and my writing, and I wanted the Wesleyan community to be aware of my original intentions as I was writing this review.