Since 1978, The Piranha has cut over-sized egos down to size, mocked the self-importance of the SU and student societies, and forced College authorities to acknowledge some hard truths. Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan and current Irish ambassador to the EU Rory Montgomery were involved in its founding. The Pirhana has a proud tradition of casting a skeptical eye over College life, entertaining its readers with its writers’ wit and insight.
It has done this by treading a fine line between biting satire and bullying, no easy task when the subjects most easily tackled are the colourful characters that scramble up the various power ladders in college
.
Last week, The Piranha failed to strike this balance. It failed because it forgot its purpose. Written by a small group of writers, it turned into a bully pulpit in a very real way, slandering Sebastien Lecocq and his friends in a character assassination that was neither provoked nor proportional. Repeatedly calling Lecocq an “asshole” and a “douchebag”, The Piranha’s article on the former SU Presidential hopeful came off as little more than the vindictive ramblings of a malicious writer. It wasn’t funny and it certainly wasn’t satire.
The responsibility for this piece lies with the editor, John Engle. Engle refused to show any remorse or offer Lecocq an apology when The University Times called him on Sunday. Despite the ever-mounting criticism laid at his door by various student leaders and even from vaunted defenders of free speech DU Publications, Engle has remained stubborn in his defence of the piece, claiming that such hatchet jobs are the norm for Piranha election specials, notwithstanding the obvious difference in tone between Lecocq’s article and those of the other candidates.
This is not an issue of freedom of speech. As Students’ Union President Nikolai Trigoub-Rotnem said, if Engle had even communicated the content of the article to Lecocq face-to-face, it would still be considered bullying. Ridiculing a blameless individual for their appearance and the medical condition that causes it is the behaviour of a schoolyard bully, and certainly not befitting a platform which amplifies the bullying thousandfold.
Either Engle knows he’s in the wrong and he’s just too proud to admit it or he doesn’t fully understand what satire is.
Either way, Engle should step down as editor of The Piranha. His editorship has damaged the credibility of The Piranha at a time when Trinity has no other source of satirical journalism. If Engle stays on, then the much-loved publication may be irreparably damaged in the eyes of the student body.
