{"id":2168,"date":"2015-04-16T09:00:53","date_gmt":"2015-04-16T13:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/?p=2168"},"modified":"2015-04-16T09:00:53","modified_gmt":"2015-04-16T13:00:53","slug":"college-studentsstaff-shocked-to-learn-not-everything-they-read-is-true","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2015\/04\/16\/college-studentsstaff-shocked-to-learn-not-everything-they-read-is-true\/","title":{"rendered":"College Students\/Staff Shocked to Learn Not Everything They Read is True"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY GRAY WHITSETT – OPINIONS SECTION EDITOR<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The college community of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky is reeling from recent allegations of their school newspaper publishing articles that are \u201cpurely fictional and does not necessarily reflect views of the [newspaper] or Centre College.\u201d<\/p>\n

The College\u2019s newspaper, The Cento<\/em>, began a new recurring feature this year with the addition of the \u201cCentOnion.\u201d Based on an uncreative bastardization of the school newspaper\u2019s name and the satirical news site the Onion<\/em>, the series features topical issues relevant to the Danville and Centre community in a funny, sometimes biting, manner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were really excited about debuting the idea this year,\u201d Opinions Section Editor and series creator Gray Whitsett said. \u201cI\u2019ve written every one of them, and I always really enjoy working on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Editor-in-Chief Sarah Cornett had similar things to say about the newspaper\u2019s recent addition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve actually been rather surprised by its success. It adds a balance of humor to the paper that I think students and staff have really enjoyed,\u201d Cornett said.<\/p>\n

But not everyone is happy. Routinely, the articles find their way into day-to-day conversation or Facebook and Twitter having been taken seriously.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt broke my heart when I thought no-bakes were actually going to be canceled,\u201d sophomore Tyler Brockovich said, who was abroad at the time. \u201cI told my entire Strasbourg group and we grieved together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior Bob Caldrich had a similar experience, tweeting at the college\u2019s Twitter account after actually believing that Centre would send students into the Gaza Strip for a study abroad program.<\/p>\n

\"Surprised-CEO-when-looking-at-your-LinkedIn-Profile-Headline\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Other examples abound, including one student concerned that Cowan food put a female student into a diabetic coma and a staff worker deeply offended at being quoted saying nothing offensive at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were worried when we first pitched the idea that people would take it as legitimate news,\u201d Editor-in-Chief Cornett said. \u201cBut we figured since this is a place of higher learning, people would actually read the article before jumping to conclusions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe even included an explicit editor\u2019s note making clear that it\u2019s purely fictional,\u201d Whitsett added. \u201cLike seriously, if you scroll down to the bottom of this article right now, you\u2019ll find it. Not even this piece is real.\u201d<\/p>\n

But despite being transparent about their absurdity, The Cento<\/em> still came under fire for spreading false information, confusing readers, and using names of real members of the Danville and College community.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019d be amazed at how quickly people will make a mountain out of a molehill,\u201d Copy Editor Kinsey Hisle said. \u201cAnd you\u2019d be dismayed at how few people understand sarcasm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, the CentOnion<\/em> has on occasion caused a bit of controversy, in one case culminating in an employee of the College staff getting involved in a Facebook debate on the writer\u2019s wall. Shockingly, the rant didn\u2019t change anyone\u2019s opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t always agree with what the articles are saying,\u201d Cento Faculty Advisor and Old Carnegie hermit Dr. Milton Riegelman said, \u201cbut I\u2019m always a supporter of students expressing themselves, even if it causes some upset. That\u2019s what we teach here, and that\u2019s what we should value.\u201d<\/p>\n

True, the College prides itself on instructing students in critical thinking and analytical interpretation. Still, the faux news isn\u2019t without its victims.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes my job a living hell,\u201d News Section Editor Jared Thompson said. \u201cI get emails, texts, and calls all the time from concerned students about the fake news developments that the CentOnion<\/em> reports on. When people heard that Abraham Lincoln was conceived on the footsteps of Old Centre, people freaked out. One local artist wanted to do a rendition of the Madonna and Child using a baby Lincoln and Susie Roush. It was bizarre.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite causing him a few headaches, Thompson hasn\u2019t thrown any temper tantrums about the humorous news section.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it\u2019s because it\u2019s just satire or maybe it\u2019s because I don\u2019t have the emotional maturity of a middle school student, but I never saw any reason to get upset.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of how people have reacted to the CentOnion<\/em>, it\u2019s clear that students and staff have at least been reading.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo some degree we\u2019re just glad people are paying attention,\u201d Editor-in-Chief Cornett said. \u201cNow we just have to get them to read all the way through.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: Congrats. You\u2019re actually reading this. Thank you so much for taking the time to get this far. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Anyway, the previous article is from the CentOnion series, a satirical publication focused on parodying various subjects unique to Centre College\u2019s campus.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

As such, all content within this article is purely fictional and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Cento or Centre College.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In addition all quotations used in this article are purely fictional and do not necessarily reflect the views of the individuals quoted.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Have a fantastic end to your semester, a relaxing summer, and to those graduating, we love you dearly. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY GRAY WHITSETT – OPINIONS SECTION EDITOR The college community of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky is reeling from recent allegations of their school newspaper publishing articles that are \u201cpurely fictional and does not necessarily reflect views of the [newspaper] or Centre College.\u201d The College\u2019s newspaper, The Cento, began a new recurring feature this year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,10],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-2168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-leisure","category-centonion","category-opinions","tag-centonion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2168\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}