Craccum

College newspapers in the U.S. tend to be scaled down

versions of the commercial ones. They consist of a couple of news tidbits, a few complaints about tuition costs in the letters section, some talk about how great/crappy the football team was last week, and a political editorial by a person with the intellect of a frozen gorilla turd (my bias, it shows through sometimes). They are always incredibly politically correct to the point that any semi-inflammatory comment sends uproars around campus. All in all, student newspapers make a decent time filler for the few minutes between classes.

...And then there is Craccum

The University of Auckland student magazine is pretty much the polar opposite of Oregon State's The Barometer. Craccum is published every week and its pages are rife with vulgar pictures, copious swear words and raunchy humor. It's great. The writer's journalistic integrity is questionable and Craccum's ostentatious writing style beats you over the head at times. However, I'll admit it is kind of refreshing to have a student paper where people can practice their free speech without getting drawn and quartered like they would in the states. And think about it, they definitely cater to their audience, the college (Uni) student. I imagine years and years ago (they celebrated their 80th anniversary this year) the University decided it wasn't worth their time and effort to police what students wrote and the beast has been unleashed ever since.

I'd estimate that at least one of two covers (like the one above) contains somewhere the word Fuck. Quite often they write something as a practical joke and then retract the statement the next week for fooling a few gullible people . Every week readers send in their pictures, at least one of which involves a naked person. The editorials are designed to piss people off, but if you take the incendiary comments with a grain of salt there is interesting reading to be had. People either or read it, or ignore it.

I try to be as respectful as the next guy, but it's nice here in New Zealand that people don't often go off their rockers because they saw/heard/read something they don't like. Mammaries can be shown on TV in NZ and few people here would think that their kids will be scarred for life as a result. Free speech is a precious thing indeed, and this is easy for people to overlook when they are ready to shoot the messenger for saying something they disapprove of.

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

~Attributed to Voltaire