Letter from the Editor: Reflections on Dissidence

By Stephanie Jackson

Writing these things – these letters from the editor – is hard. Seriously. Most editors save it until the last night, writing about whatever comes to mind. I've been thinking it over all semester, but one thing keeps presenting itself to me: dissident media. That's what Stand Up is, after all, or at least what we like to consider ourselves. In February, our parent organization, Campus Progress, and The Nation, a leftist magazine that was around when our grandfathers were protesting, held the first ever Southeastern Regional Conference for activism and journalism. The opening speaker could not have been more perfect for tying the two causes together: Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! whose sole message was the rebirth of the dissident press.

Most people know at least a little bit about the dissident press. I don't think I'd be wrong to say almost anyone reading this magazine in particular has heard the term “muckraker” before - those journalists active at the turn of the 20th century who focused unprecedented time and attention to investigating misdeeds of corporations, city governments and society in general. These men and women – Ida Tarbell, Lincoln Jeffers and Upton Sinclair to name a few – stood at the forefront of a new kind of journalism, one that wasn't afraid to take on the richest man of the day and force his company to adhere to the standards of good business. They made possible the next generation, people like I.F. Stone and Edward R. Murrow who weren't afraid to fight against McCarthy and his Red Scare, which led to journalists like Ralph Ellison and James Baldwin who took a stand for Civil Rights.

For awhile there it seemed like dissident journalism was marching to its death bed. After 9/11 and the start of the war, the “circle the wagons” mentality was once again the chosen method, and until a few key people, Amy Goodman one of them, chose to go against the crowd we were in danger of losing the freedom of the press.

Today the dissident press is in as good a place as ever. Not financially, of course, but in spirit and mission, the press today has more chance than ever. Our world is changing, as always. We are still in an unjust world and the same epidemics that have plagued the world for decades – AIDS, famine, genocide – continue to ravage around the globe. While our economy tanks we must keep in mind that no matter what, regardless of the obstacles, financial or social, we must keep up the fight. Silence is never an acceptable option.