DOUBLE-DOWN SYNDROME

One of these guys is a college student. The other needs to grow up.

On the left is Cody Nespor, editor of The Rocket, the newspaper at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. On the right is Aaron Bernstine, a Pennsylvania state representative who hates him.

On Saturday, Bernstine tweeted…

What did Nespor do to warrant a lawmaker’s insults? He wrote a 666-word editorial called, Will enough ever be enough? Comments on the Parkland shooting.

“Assault rifles are weapons of war, they were made to be used in war and to kill people,” he wrote. “I do not believe they have a place in a civil society.”

He continued…

I do not know what the answer is to keep schools safe, but arming teachers is not going to work. My mother is a middle school math teacher, her job is to educate children. She is not a solider, she should not have to worry about defending her students in a firefight.

Nespor ended like this…

If you would like to join in the conversation, please feel free to send a letter to the editor to my email at cdn1003@sru.edu.

State Rep. Aaron Bernstine, a first-term Republican, decided to join in the conversation – not via email, but by tweeting that the college senior “pushes a lib agenda” and is “a horrible writer.”

When others on Twitter called out Bernstine for picking on a college student, he doubled down…

…which is weird, because a legislator should know the difference between a news story and an editorial. The former covers “both sides,” but the latter is all about “serving an agenda.”

Weirder still, Nespor was more mature than his elder in replying…

Nespor has a thicker skin than his state rep, because he told me this morning, “I wasn’t really offended at all. I thought it was more funny than anything.” He added…

The biggest thing I felt was disbelief, that any elected official would attack a college student and publicly try and ruin their career. I thought some things were below the any elected official, but apparently not.

By the way, in Bernstine’s original tweet, he praised two other Slippery Rock students before insulting Nespor. Who are they?

Both describe themselves as “aspiring news anchors,” and they look like this…

…which, to be clear, isn’t a slam on them. But it is a commentary on the 33-year-old legislator who rates two young blonde women as “A++ talent” – and no other students he represents.

14Comments

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1

FOX-y women on Apr 4, 2018 at 11:17 am
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These two blonds look like they “aspire” to be on FOX & Friends or possibly The Five and with the help of this creeper politician they may be on their way to a profitable career of reading teleprompters and wearing short dresses while sitting behind glass tables on tall stools.
2

SEXIST man on Apr 4, 2018 at 12:50 pm
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Why assume two attractive women want sexist jobs? Also, try more commas.
3

Anonymous on Apr 4, 2018 at 1:21 pm
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Hello, I know both of those two reporters at the end personally and the reason that they WILL get into the field is because they’re both dedicated and passionate about the news industry. I agree that Bernstine should not have added them to the conversation to begin with, but it was even more unprofessional of a fellow reporter, seemingly standing up for college journalists, to state that Bernstine’s original call-out was directed at their looks (whether it was or not and whether it is appropriate that it was or not). All Koretzky is doing here is further discrediting the talent of college reporters and journalists, which is odd seeing as this article seems to be directed towards protecting them. If your intentions were to discredit and point out how creepy politicians can be, you missed your mark and ended up discrediting more journalists and reporters in the act. Just saying “Which, to be clear, isn’t a slam on them” doesn’t clear you from that view.
4

Anonymous on Apr 4, 2018 at 1:39 pm
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I couldn’t agree more with the two comments above. This article attempts to stand up for one student, but at the expense of exploiting two. This is not okay.
- 5
  
  Koretzky on Apr 4, 2018 at 4:23 pm
  Reply
  
  Not trusting my own judgment on such matters, I’ve asked others I respect. Till I hear back, I disagree.
  
  I didn’t “discredit” these women. I didn’t even name them. And they’re journalists who aspire to fame. They’re quite likely to catch real hell later on, for transgressions real or perceived. As all of us in this field eventually do.
  
  But like I said, I can be persuaded. Right now, though, I’m not.
  - 6
    
    Anonymous on Apr 4, 2018 at 7:08 pm
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    No disrespect here, sir, but you shouldn’t be trusting the person’s judgement who told you it was ok to do this either. It’s wrong. You did not mention them by name, but they’re mentioned in the original tweet, which you posted, and then referenced them later on with their photos. Any somewhat intelligent person would be able to link them together. Also, I’m pretty sure you didn’t get permission to use their photos, especially in a defamatory way.
    - 7
      
      Koretzky on Apr 4, 2018 at 10:19 pm
      
      You’re not disrespecting me any more than I’m disrespecting them. Sure, someone could track down these women. But they aspire to be in the public eye, so I fail to see the sin here.
      
      And I don’t need their permission to write about them, any more than I need the state legislator’s.
      
      I’m sure to get eviscerated for this question, but it’s never stopped me before: Would you be asking for the photos to be removed if they were two men, and the lawmakers creeping on them was a woman?
      
      If that offends, you can see why I rely on others for second-plus opinions. I think that’s good journalism, too. I’ve lived long enough to expect being wrong, and comfortable saying sorry.
    - 8
      
      Anonymous on Apr 5, 2018 at 9:21 am
      
      Koretzky…you should ALWAYS ask for permission to use other people’s photos. It doesn’t matter what gender they are. Also, this is not good journalism. The girls are irrelevant to the story. The story here is that a politician attacked a college newspaper editor. Pointing out their looks and implying that that’s the reason they got praised is unprofessional, and not a good journalistic practice. You’ve discredited their work solely based on their looks. It’s not your job to assume the reason they were praised in this situation. Mentioning the girls and saying “while attacking one student journalist, he praised two others” is one thing, but to use their photos and imply that looks are the reason is inappropriate and sexist.
9

Cody Nespor on Apr 4, 2018 at 2:14 pm
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Just to be clear, all the student media organizations at SRU get along really well and more often than not we collaborate on most stories. Morgan, Haley, and I all know each other and I think very highly of their work. I’m sure they were just shocked at Berstine’s comments as I was.
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  Anonymous on Apr 4, 2018 at 3:09 pm
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  To echo what Cody said, I’ve worked closely with them (and Cody as well for that matter). All three are journalists of integrity and very hard working students. For a journalist to to discredit their work (especially when it’s not even relevant) is highly unprofessional.
11

Dan on Apr 4, 2018 at 6:34 pm
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You can’t call me back about a scoop because you were busy writing this?! Ouch, Buddy.
12

Nick Argall on Apr 4, 2018 at 7:53 pm
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“Which, to be clear, isn’t a slam on them” – that’s a very fancy wording for “I’m not a sexist but”

What you seem to be saying is “I’m not incredibly shallow, I’m accusing that other guy of being incredibly shallow.” It does seem likely that the politician is incredibly shallow. But this particular criticism is incredibly shallow. It’s also irrelevant to your thesis.

Does he praise them for no reason other than that they are attractive blondes? Maybe. Do you present any evidence to support the notion that he only supports them for that reason? No. So we are left to wonder why you believe that he does that. It seems that the only reason you can imagine on his behalf is “Those are some good looking girls.”

If it’s the only reason you can imagine on his behalf, is that because it’s the only reason you can imagine? Maybe not. But it is the sort of simplistic accusation that pops straight to mind.

My recommendation is that next time you want to accuse of being incredibly shallow, you’d best do a deeper job of it.
13

This guy looks like Ted Cruz! on Apr 4, 2018 at 10:44 pm
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Doesn’t anyone else see this? That politician looks like a fatter, more alcoholic Ted Cruz with a tighter haircut. Same beady eyes. Cmon, this is more important than the two blondes.
14

Anonymous on Apr 5, 2018 at 12:32 am
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These are college students-why are we targeting them? They are young and learning, they do not need to be in this public of an eye at this young of an age. Leave them alone and leave the girls out of it. This story has NOTHING to do with them and is degrading/ sexist.