Photo Illustration by Dan Leitao
In his “Walk of Shame” column, “He Said” Chris Surette walked the walk.
And now, readers are talking the talk.
Since the Connecticut Post’s coverage of the controversy in the Nov. 12 article “Fairfield U. newspaper faces discipline over column’s ‘harassment’” and the Nov. 15 editorial “Don’t Punish Student Newspaper”, Internet users from all over have been flocking to The Mirror’s Web site. Chris Surette’s Sept. 30 column, reporting a current total of 25,588 hits, as of press time, since it went up Oct.1, has now taken the lead as the most viewed article on current and past Fairfield Mirror Web sites.
News coverage on the Fairfield Mirror and the He Said column has appeared from professional organizations such as The Hartford Courant, The Boston Herald, WCBS, 1010WINS, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Not only are people reading, but they are responding as well. In the age of blogs, many have come forward to defend or bash The Mirror.
It started on a popular blog called Barstool Sports, who republished the column and offered a response, saying that when compared to other content on its own site, the column isn’t as offensive. The writer, speaking of those who found offense, wrote: “I’ll teach them a thing or two about male chauvinism.”
But many blogs expressed anger at the publication of the article, including a writer at Feministe.com, who wrote, “It’s basically a pro-rape manual. The point of Chris Surette’s column is that men bond over sexually humiliating women, and it’s a ‘victory’ when everyone else sees your ‘victim’ doing the walk of shame back to her dorm.”
More dissent comes from a local Boston show, “Beat the Press,” where commentator and award-winning journalist, Callie Crossley said that it was an example of the types of writing that “bubbles up on campus that puts young women in danger.” But another member on the panel also said that it may be strange to press harassment changes on an organization for publishing a story.
The controversy over the “He Said” column has reached heights beyond the Fairfield campus and community these past few weeks and has seen the public opinion shift everywhere from in support to The Mirror to calling out He Said.
Leave a Reply