Letter to the Editor: ‘Blurred lines’ of journalism

In efforts to keep up with the acoUstiKraze I have been reading all things acoUstiKat — from blog posts to entertainment weeklies and even the Kentucky Kernel. A column posted by the Kentucky Kernel just a day after their premiere performance on NBC’s “The Sing Off” was misguided, to say the very least.

The column titled, “Blurred Lines crosses the line: acoUstiKats are better than song choice on ‘The Sing-Off’” disguised itself as a review of the performance. The author cited just two lyrics from the hotly debated song and then rested her case. Drawing conclusions later in the article, the author constructed a parallel which seemed to imply the acoUstiKats and the rape culture their three-minute performance perpetuated were responsible for the moral downfall of college students.

The piece then haphazardly tacks on of a campus sexual assault story two-thirds through the article. Mentioning the assault so casually alongside the review of a TV show speaks more to rape culture than the song or their performance. What does it say about society that a dorm assault or the staggering statistics regarding sexual violence are only warranted attention from campus media alongside a completely unrelated three-minute event on a TV show?

Covering these young men could have been an innovative story for the author and the Kentucky Kernel. The social media buzz gave the author a wide variety of sources to pull from, yet the author used none. Instead the column featured one opinion: Hers.

Unfortunately, this one fell short. The misguided writing echoes a Facebook rant and diminishes three very important news topics at the University of Kentucky. Sexual Assault on college campuses is a true problem, but coupling this story with an entertainment column diminishes the plight of violence against women more than a three-minute performance ever could.

I encourage readers of the Kentucky Kernel to investigate rape culture further and the affects slut-shaming has on the topic. The column, and its lazy attempt at news, exhibits “the nonchalant attitude our society has toward rape and the treatment of women.” Clearly, the author felt the only platform to promote awareness for sexual violence against women was riding the coat tails of the acoUstiKats, which is much more offensive than their three-minute performance, which I think we can all agree brought the house down.