Word: chesson
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Dates: during 1994-1994
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Ellison and Chesson both imply in their letters that it is irresponsible journalism to use a person's name in a story in which he or she refuses to comment. But, logically extended, this seems to be a difficult proposition to sustain. By this rationale for instance, if Tonya Harding refused to comment on the attack on Nancy Kerrigan, it would be irresponsible to print her name in any story related to the incident. Or, without President Nixon's comments, It was careless to name him in stories about Watergate...
Having said this, I would probably not have named Meredith Chesson in the original article. My argument for this position is not that she refused to speak to our reporters, but rather that The Crimson did not have official documentation of a supposedly "formal" complaint...
...Chesson's response to a call from one of our reporters," I have no statement to make whatsoever," seems to contradict the tone of her letter--in which she writes that had the reporters asked. "I would have told them that I had never filed a complaint of sexual harassment against any faculty members in the archaeology wing...
None of the above is meant to exonerate The Crimson from all blame in its coverage of the archaeology wing. For a start, naming Chesson in the original story was unnecessary. And some of the paper's subsequent coverage has had problems...
Further, the editor's note responding to Chesson's letter, is also inaccurate when it says that "Crimson reporters contacted Chesson and asked her about the complaint." The reporter who called did not get to ask about the complaint per se, Chesson declined to comment the minute he mentioned "sexual harassment." And, especially in an issue as delicate as this one, it was extremely poor form to misspell Chesson's first name in the attribution to her letter...