COMMENTARY: Rutgers University Needs to Suspend Publication of Its Sarcastic Paper

A satirical student newspaper at New Jersey's Rutgers University is under investigation for bias because it published a column praising Adolf Hitler, and attributing the column to a Jewish student activist, along with his picture.

This sarcastic article appeared in the satirical student paper "The Medium" on April 4 alongside Rutgers student Aaron Marcus' name and photo. To add insult to injury, Marcus lost several relatives in Hitler's Nazi German Holocaust during World War II.

The article has received much criticism from Rutgers faculty and staff, including Richard McCormick -- president of Rutgers -- who called it ... "a vicious and provocative and hurtful piece, regardless whether the First Amendment protections apply to such expression."

We agree with President McCormick's description of the article.

The fact is that freedom of the press -- in its true meaning -- requires a responsibility that accompanies it. The press, then, does not have an unlimited right to print an article that is insulting to an individual -- especially if the statements in the article are not true.

America has laws against libel -- the defamation of an individual by the press -- in order to discourage the press from printing unsubstantiated defamatory articles or pictures of individuals. Libelous lawsuits have resulted in many American individuals -- who have been falsely defamed by newspapers or magazines -- winning millions of dollars from these publications as a result of such defamation.

While "The Medium" satirical paper does not have enough money for Aaron Marcus to sue it for libel, the paper does deserve to have punitive action taken against it for its hatefulness, recklessness, and irresponsibility.

That being the case, we believe that Rutgers President McCormick needs to suspend publication of "The Medium" for at least a full academic year -- or better still, permanently.