Editorial Discourse
Since its founding, the Conglomerate has experienced many stages of evolution. Such evolution has been essential for the paper to remain a relevant source of information for the student body. Over the years, the newspaper has changed the format it’s presented in, sections have come and gone, and it’s safe to say that reader engagement has fluctuated over the years. One of my favorite hidden gems in the Congo’s history is the “Letters to the Editor” section that ran on and off from about 1996 to 2001. To put that into perspective, this section of the Conglomerate is older than almost any current Centenary undergrad. This section–and I use that term loosely as it was never a consistent slot in the paper’s lineup–was essentially what it sounds like: letters written by readers of the paper addressed to whoever the editor of the paper was at the time. These letters usually critiqued the content of the paper–or the editor themself–and were often followed by a response written by the Editor.
For example, in 2001, the paper published an opinion piece questioning how the SGA allocated funds. The Vice-President of Internal Affairs on the SGA at the time then rightfully responded, essentially claiming that the paper didn’t focus enough on the Student Government, only to be criticizing how it allocates funds. Most of this letter covered SGA's positive changes to the campus that year. The then-editor, Evan McClanahan, responded by stating the SGA’s “accomplishments” held no relevance to the original critique and denied any responsibility on the Conglomerate’s part to ensure that SGA’s activities were covered in a paper based on student interest. Such was the nature of letters to the editor. Another letter to Mr. McClanahan directly called him out on his method of argumentation, claiming he abused his role as Editor by writing opinion pieces (which he, of course, claimed was completely within his rights).
Truth be told, while I’m sure Mr. McClanahan was a committed and wonderful editor to the Conglomerate, if there’s any one reason “Letters to the Editor” hasn’t survived, it’s probably him. Like many, he didn’t take criticism well, responding to complaints with the same, if not higher, degree of pettiness. Don’t get me wrong, his responses often made points and made them well, but his most trusted argument was denying that the opposition even had an argument. He closes his rebuttal to SGA by writing, “the fact that the above editorial says nothing to contradict my allegations says more than I ever could. The facts still stand.” That’s a lovely note to end on; it wasn’t enough to claim the original complaint had no real merit; he had to turn his opponent’s entire argument against them.
Another occasion when a letter to the editor brushed a little too close to personal was in 1996 when the leading figures of Centenary’s Greek Life outright accused The Conglomerate’s staff of defamation. “Why?” you ask; because of a cartoon published in the “Granfalloon” of the paper that supposedly cast Greek Life members in “an overexposed and negative way.” They demanded a “front page apology” to the fraternities and sororities of Centenary. For those wondering, the “Granfalloon” was a page in The Conglomerate that specialized in sarcastic and satirical content. The editor’s response said as much and pointed out that many other student organizations had been satirized in the same section. This back-and-forth between the paper and its readers was almost always stained by biased passive aggression that bordered on petty (especially considering that most of these correspondences were exclusively between students).
Still, I can’t help but think that the consistent criticism–and often very petty attacks–to and from the paper suggest the level of importance it held twenty years ago. The simple fact that “Letters to the Editor” was even a thing indicates that the staff counted on students reading it. Not only that, but I would argue that the aggressiveness with which some of the complaints were made proves that people truly cared what was written in the Congo, at least enough to be offended by the opinion pieces. The sad truth is that that level of student engagement with the school’s paper has been unheard of for years. In an age dominated by social media and all one needs to publish their opinion is a phone and a Twitter account, it’s hard to imagine college students taking the time to draft a letter just to complain to their school’s paper. At the time, however, it was one of the few ways to get their opinions heard.
