Chapter 3 the Administrator and the college press
The Administrator and the College Press
Chapter 3 What I Learned, or found interesting
Page 98 a responsible undergraduate press can be the conscience of the college community. Censorship destroys the fundamental tool of the democratic educational process: freedom of discussion and debate.
Editors have the privilege of saying what goes and what doesn’t in a newspaper, keeping in mind the right for others to criticize the paper.
Faculty participation: We would LOVE faculty to come in and offer help in a non-censoring way. *The Journalism Prof. offered to come in next year for a read through. I would like to have him come in Sat. afternoon after 2nd deadline if he can, he volunteered so we should use him! :) *
The author also mentioned that his staff would meet with the President every week. I don’t think its necessary, but what do you think about a monthly meeting with him, after the Board has been formed, for feedback etc.???
Also, what do think about having our PR person meet with the Eckerd PR person for ideas, tips and contacts so that position can have more power next year. It’s more than just Triton coffee mugs, white boards and thank you lunches you know?
On page 101 the author mentions that his Board has many Student Government people on it. I agree with our set up. FYI
On 102 the author mentions that the paper must be accountable to their readers- and that doesn’t mean accountability solely or even largely to the admin.
Good point * page 102* If the paper was well written and carefully edited, most of the public relations problems they create would be avoided.* But we aren’t just the PR arm.
The author also says that it is unwise for the paper to only print what is favorable to the college; it should print all news, good or bad.
The student reader has the right to reject inaccurate reporting, not pay for it or not read it. (Ours is free on campus anyway)
The author mentions that the student body should be able to replace editors when they fail. I disagree. It should be up to the Editor in Chief, or if the problem is the Chief, up to the whole staff. What do you think?
Also, “taste” is an individual opinion. What is ok for an editor might be totally distasteful to a college administrator.
The author says that the underlying purpose of Freedom of the press not only protects publishers, but safeguards the right to read whatever they choose.
This is a good argument: On page 106 if we are truly a Christian liberal arts college, then it seems to me that we are bound by both theological and educational beliefs not only to permit fee exchange of facts ideas and opinions but to promote such freedom at every turn.
Page 107-108
Five things that the people should expect from the paper:
Honest, accurate reporting of news
close attention to issues that affect lives of community
carefully considered well-supported editorial comment
imaginative interesting presentation of material
concern for the well being of the college community (I think this could be misinterpreted)
5 things that writers/editors should expect from readers/community:
Free and invited access to information
Receptivity to what is communicated
Belief in the principles of full exchange of information
Desire to be well informed
Honest appraisal of communication efforts
I think something like this should be included in our handbook
The author poses some questions on page 108 that I find very interesting:
How well do our media reflect the basic beliefs of the college? Meaning what exactly? “The right climate for learning?” Are we supposed to be reflecting the basic beliefs of the school?
On page 110 the author says that the freedom-desiring student journalist should also consider the important idea of ownership. The students are not free to print whatever they want. There is always the “censorship” or “direction” by the owner or publisher. The student is not the publisher and is responsible to “someone else”. In Eckerd’s case, it is the college? Because it allows us to print and finances at least in part the space, etc.? Question: The money we get currently is from the student activity fee. Are we still responsible to the college or to the students…?
On page 111, the author says that the paper can’t publish anything that discredits the school or will harm the institution because we are a product of the institution. This is interesting. I feel that if we have information about the school that is discrediting, but well written and has enough sources to be thorough, we should print it. Is this right?
Chapter 4 to come soon
posted by Krista @ 5:04 PM
1 Comments:
Hi Krista,
It seems you are, somewhat, continuing the "discussion" of your earlier posts: the press is the conscience of the community. For the Triton, it is the voice of the college community, and I think we've done a good job of being the voice of discussion and debate. I was proud of the Triton for printing letters to the editor when they disagreed with the Emmanuel story, for instance.
And I would also love more faculty participation in the paper; my ego is not so big as to want to be the only faculty member who gives you feedback. If, by "journalism prof," you mean Fred, then sure, I'd be glad to have him give you some feedback -- I like Fred. I also think James Janack could give you good feedback, as well as Sterling Watson and Bill Kelly. Get all of the information you can to help you make journalistic decisions. I, of course, am always available for feedback and discussion about stories, and wish the Triton students would utilize me more before they published.
I do wish we had more of a presence before the president, and would encourage monthly meetings. That's something we could pursue, both as editor-in-chief and mentor, and perhaps in the practicum.
I also think it's a great idea that our PR person meets with the PR person for the university -- good idea! Who *is* our PR person next year?
I don't think it's a bad idea to have *one* representative of the student government on our media board, especially if it is a person who understands the delicate balance between college journalism and college government. We had some people at our meeting between the Triton and Student Government, for example, that I was most heartened to hear talk, as they understood that the government was not our "boss", and that we were trying to be the voice of our community. I'd welcome them to our board.
You've glossed a bit, over our responsibility to our community to be fair and accurate; but you make a good point that we would avoid some of our problems in publication if we were more careful to publish articles that were journalistically sound.
I'm not de-emphasizing the fact that we've had some great articles; this just goes back to the problem that we have that when we print articles that aren't fair. Sometimes we haven't consulted all of the sources for a well-rounded article that presents both sides of the story, and that hurts us. What can we do to prevent this?
You mention that you disagree that the paper should be able to replace editors "when they fail" -- actually, I agree with this, to some extent. However, there is a difference between making a mistake and owning up to it -- journalists do this all the time, even Dan Rather, when he owned up to a story when he used an unreliable source that didn't pan out -- and then just blatantly running whatever, and expecting the "freedom of the press" to protect you. I am highly in support of the freedom of the press, but not of writers who don't do all of the research needed to write an unbiased story. That's lazy -- and when a journalist doesn't support this kind of journalism, I am in support of finding an editor who wants to do the work.
Lastly, you write that some papers won't write anything that is discrediting of the institution which publishes it. You will deal with this in all of your journalistic career. For instance, I once wrote a story that was critical of a local board, on which my publisher served. I saw, afterward, that my publisher went through my story, and edited out anything negative. I was aghast -- but he was the publisher, and he did what he pleased. He also signed my paychecks. Was it fair? Nope. But he paid for the paper.
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