Surviving 35 years of bitter controversy

By Sean Gallagher

Published Feb. 16, 1990

NOTE: This originally appeared in the Feb. 16, 1990, edition of The Maneater.

When The Maneater's first editor, Joe Gold, created the monster, he wanted to accomplish two things. One was to double the circulation of the old administrative 'Missouri Student,' and the other was to make the paper "a respected and feared publication of the University."

Trouble began almost immediately for the first Maneater staff. When Gold and his writers couldn't get a whole story, they made parts up.

"Many people bought an issue one week just to see what had been retracted from the previous week's issue," Gold said in 1985.

This practice of conjuring news meshed with Gold's philosophy on The Maneater's purpose, "but its very name cannot content itself with merely presenting the news. For a newspaper to attempt to walk the fine line of impartiality or to present both sides without indicating where it stands is to commit suicide both in circulation figures and in the minds of its readers."

Reflecting this attitude, The Maneater published a parody issue in 1978, forgoing the previous parody issues' name — The Anteater — for the more controversial Shiteater. This issue angered the campus for picturing the chancellor, Barbara Uehling, perched on Missouri President Jim Olson's lap.

In 1981, the Shiteater featured such stories as "Chancellor to birth new J-dean" and "Gay seals assault cop."

That issue prodded the Parkade Baptist Church to call for a local boycott on all advertising in The Maneater. The issue also caused the Advisory Board to call a meeting with the incoming editor, Mike Reilly, in order to set some ground rules for future parody issues.

The 1989 Shiteater was not without conflict, either. The sports pages included a reference to one of the basketball player's relatives as a Zulu and a manufactured quote attributed to Smug Dith, which began, "Ise doz whats theze tellz me to do."

The Shiteaters have not been the only bamboo shoots under the fingernails of The Maneater. In April 1989 a bogus ad of unknown origin appeared touting the "GALA Blue-Jean Bash / Weenie Roast."

In 1989 The Maneater was banned from the Stephens College campus after a cartoon pictured a couple in bed and a Stephens sweatshirt hanging from the bedpost. Stephens officials said the newspaper would be banned until it lost its sexist attitude.

A sophomore at MU sued the newspaper in 1980 for $120,000 because of a personal ad, which she said associated her with "gross immorality and conduct." The paper settled out of court by paying for the girl's final two years' tuition, fees, books, and room and board at UMKC.

A similar situation occurred in 1983. Two students sued The Maneater for $60,000 each. They said personal ads in The Maneater hinted that the two had venereal diseases. It was settled out of court.

Chances are the controversy will continue. According to the current policy, The Maneater "has its own personality, created by the nature of its staff and the environment in which it serves."