'Harvard Crimson' shows hypocrisy during project

When it comes to newspapers, the opinion page in general and the staff editorial specifically stand as the voice of the editors of the newspaper. They must be unbiased in their writing of regular stories, but in columns and editorials a reader really gets the opportunity to see the values and opinions of the writers and editors of the newspaper. Sometimes, though, the actions performed by the staff at a newspaper can speak louder than the words they put on paper.\nRecently, The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper of Harvard University, decided to digitize every issue ever published by their newspaper in a collection that some feel will be the biggest online newspaper collection ever. The Crimson, as the second-oldest college daily newspaper in the United States, has been in circulation since 1873, resulting in 128 years worth of newspapers to get online. This will require a lot of work, and a lot of workers in order to get it up and running soon. Since they are dealing with a limited budget, C. Matthew MacInnis, a Harvard senior and the president of The Crimson, made a decision to have Cambodian workers typeset the 19th century editions in order to get them online. These workers will be receiving wages of 40 cents an hour. This is not too shocking in an era where cheap overseas labor is a common occurrence. The shocking, and hypocritical part, is who made the decision.\nFor years, The Crimson has editorialized against U.S. businesses taking their jobs overseas in order to get cheaper labor than can be found here in America. In fact, as recently as the spring, the newspaper ran editorials supporting a movement to ensure that all Harvard employees made a "living wage" of $10.25-an-hour. Then comes the news of this decision, which originally was thought by many to be a joke, until the grim reality of the decision set in. \nIn this day and age, especially when dealing with college businesses, money is at a premium and one has to do what is necessary in order to get the job done. Yet, some companies that make the decision to go overseas for cheaper labor are not known to be avid critics of decisions of other companies that made a similar decision earlier. This is where The Harvard Crimson errs. For a newspaper, either high school, college or otherwise, the most important thing it can maintain for its readers is its integrity. This decision by The Crimson's staff destroys the credibility that it had with its readers. After all, why should anyone listen to what you have to say when you can't practice what you preach?\n