That critique on my op-ed about campus speaker bans really made me rethink how I write

I posted a piece last month arguing we should ban a controversial speaker at our college in Ohio. A reader pointed out I was using emotional fear tactics instead of facts, and said my argument would hold up better if I cited the actual First Amendment cases. She gave me three specific examples of court rulings that contradicted my claims. I ended up rewriting the whole thing with those cases in mind and it felt way more solid. Has anyone else gotten feedback that forced you to look at a free speech issue from a different angle?

2 comments

2 Comments

troy_wilson814d ago

Someone sent me a four paragraph breakdown of why my post about safe spaces on campus was basically just my own panic dressed up as logic. They showed me how campus speech codes that sound good on paper usually get struck down in court. I went back and looked at the actual rulings from the Sixth Circuit they mentioned, and yeah, my whole argument fell apart. Had to scrap the post and start over from scratch. It stung for about an afternoon but the rewrite got way more engagement than the original ever would have. Sometimes you need someone to point out where you're just guessing instead of knowing.

jackson.jenny14d ago

My uncle owns a diner in Toledo and he told me last week about a regular who tried to argue the health code was just "suggestions" until a health inspector showed up with a three page citation. He said the guy sat in the corner rewriting his whole menu for two hours with a red pen. Sometimes getting shut down hard is the only way to see the cracks in your own logic.