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Free speech funeral protests Daily Illini editor in chief termination
Posted: 4/3/06 Section: News
The Illini Conservative Union held a free speech funeral at noon on the Quad and in front of the Daily Illini building at 5 p.m. Friday, protesting the termination of former Daily Illini editor in chief Acton Gorton.
Leo Buchignani, president of the Illini Conservative Union and senior in Communications, said the protest was to raise awareness because people didn't know about Gorton's termination and the arbitrary issues surrounding it.
Several members of the Illini Conservative Union held up a spray-painted cardboard coffin while Mozart's "Requiem" played in the background.
"The only controversial principle (Gorton) expressed was the journalist's duty to inform the public," Buchignani read in his eulogy to free speech. "A public that simply hadn't seen the cartoons that were generating so much news."
The Illini Media Company Board of Directors fired Gorton for procedural violations March 14.
Complied by Christine Won
Leo Buchignani, president of the Illini Conservative Union and senior in Communications, said the protest was to raise awareness because people didn't know about Gorton's termination and the arbitrary issues surrounding it.
Several members of the Illini Conservative Union held up a spray-painted cardboard coffin while Mozart's "Requiem" played in the background.
"The only controversial principle (Gorton) expressed was the journalist's duty to inform the public," Buchignani read in his eulogy to free speech. "A public that simply hadn't seen the cartoons that were generating so much news."
The Illini Media Company Board of Directors fired Gorton for procedural violations March 14.
Complied by Christine Won
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