It's okay to laugh!

In a media world full of death and crime coverage, a satirical story once in a while is refreshing. As was well-established by the CCSU student reporter who wrote about "benefits" of rape, humor in the news must be well-labeled. When using this standard for satire, I am unable to understand all of the hype about the Daily Princetonian and its annual joke issue.

A long-winded article from the Philadelphia Inquirer repeatedly bashed the publication of college newspaper joke issues.

Fewer colleges are publishing joke issues as legal liabilities rise and national journalism groups advise against them. Because of their appearance and long life on the Internet, on which they appear less like satire, concerns increase even more.

Joke issues "often backfire," said Bob Steele, senior ethics faculty at the nonprofit Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank in St. Petersburg, Fla. "While the intent may be to offer humor about serious issues, the quality of the humor often falls short and the other weaknesses of satire become apparent."

I feel as if the Daily Princetonian is taking too much heat for something published simply in good humor. When addressing something like a joke issue, or even something as trivial as a practical joke, in-depth legal and ethical standards should not be considered. As long as the readers of such satire are made aware of the nature of the publication, it's okay to laugh!