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March 24, 2017
Last week’s meeting of The Plantain, The University of East Florida’s satirical newspaper descended into chaos following a pitch form one of its members. Contributor Nina Belleisa suggested the article “Should Mexican food be taxed to pay for the wall?” From that one suggestion, Other members began suggesting other topical headlines that poked fun at the President’s immigration policy. To make matters worse, the topic changed from immigration to other issues like same-sex marriage, the role of religion in government, and the proper level of taxation. When these factors added up, the meeting became a virtual symposium of political discussion.
Head editor Steven Tallen said he never expected a satirical publication of this nature to foster political discussion. Tallen claimed that “It should be all about making people laugh by talking about things that are relevant to everyday life. I don’t understand how politics could ever come up in such an environment.” Other members were also confounded as to how discussions of this nature could arise from poking fun at world leaders.
At present time, the publication is taking measures to prevent further discourse from arising in future meetings. Measures include making sure that all suggested articles in no way lead to political controversy in any way. Anything that can be considered “punching up” is to be limited, less they be “smacked down” in retaliation.
The Plantain’s officers expressed hope that the measures will work. Now they hope that no upcoming events in the early-April issue can cause their meeting to get “religious”.
