Chapter 10-12
Chapter 10 Administration
College boards and administrators in general are cordial to and supportive of freedom of the press for campus publications.
The kind of administrative involvement with student publications- to shoe up student commitment to a free forum press against pressure for self-censorship form the outside- we could do with more of on American Campuses. P110
On page 112 there is a piece of a document that the Board of Trustees and regents has adopted guaranteeing the freedom of the press. IS there anything like that at Eckerd?
Should we make one?
GOOD Administrators believe in allowing college students the freedom to learn, which includes the freedom to learn from one’s mistakes. Page 114
Administrators step in when the paper is being pulled from distribution areas and for example, burned. They protect the paper in this regard. Page 114
Even if administrators don’t like the content, most will stand by the paper on basis of having a free press.
There should be no editorial control by administrators or faculty. P116
Chapter 11 Guidelines and Policies
There is a student press bill of rights that is on p117. Is this the kind of addition you are thinking for the handbook?
When writing policies and guidelines, the following are good advice: P 119
The guidelines should be fairly short
The guidelines should not be argumentative
The guidelines should clearly meet every constitutional test concerning freedom of the press and due process.
Language should be precise and avoid generalizations
Abstract terms should not appear in the guidelines
The list on p119-120 should be looked at to see what we want to add to our policy. I don’t even think we have one right now, do we?
We should protect ourselves from the points in the list on page 121-122. I think we have seen some of those already, which is why it’s really important to get the board up and running this year.
Chapter 12 Private colleges
In state universities, journalists know where they stand regarding free press because they are protected by the Constitution. For private colleges, its hard to know because administrators in private institutions are not considered functioning state officials.
These 5 areas of student papers were surveyed in a 1986-87 study:
Organizational structure and decision making
Management
Academic relationships
Professional affiliations
Free press
Under Organizational structure, many colleges had different publishers and different people had the final say on the paper prior to press. P125
Eckerd’s: Editor in Chief has final say
Publishers are the students, the president as the entity of the college and the college as a whole. Is this correct?
Under management, 36% of college’s student press budget is controlled by the student government, who think they can discipline the student journalists. P126
Right now ECOS controls our budget. Is the plan to have the college separate out a sum and give the rest to ECOS to allocate to the clubs, because when the board is made, we will no longer be a club? Is this going to include the radio and literary magazine?
Under academic relationships, in most colleges the paper is not part of the academic program. P 127
Some colleges reported that the paper is critiqued or looked over in classes.
Professional Affiliations
Having professional ties or help in the student publications would be beneficial to the student press, and wouldn’t interfere with the freedom of press.
Free Press
There is some confusion as to the level of press freedom in the student press. Written policies will help clear up the conclusion.
It is recommended by the author that private school adopt a policy that guarantees free press, because of they are not ensured the protection of the 1st and 14th amendments. P129
Chapter 13 and addition to come shortly
posted by Krista @ 11:41 AM
2 Comments:
Hi Krista,
As far as I know, we don't have any formal document that guarantees freedom of the press at Eckerd. So far, administrators have just been kind about it and yes, hoped that we learn from our mistakes. I wouldn't mind at all seeing that kind of language worked into the media board document.
As we "talked" about before, there is confusion about who our publisher is, mostly based on who allocates our money. Again, it's NOT the government's money -- it's the students' money, which makes the students (and the college, and the president, as the representative of our college) our publisher. That's my take on it. And yes, that means my fingers are crossed that the media board will now control our budget.
We are NO LONGER a club -- which means the club behavior of waltzing in to do the job at the last minute, or blowing it off altogether, will no longer be tolerated. (Thus the practicum, to ensure the one-year commitment to the paper, and not quitting when the going gets tough.) It's all coming together, although I expect to hear the grumblings of growing pains as we go along.
Good job on the blog this week. However, I have to end with a big grumble of my own: Your handling of deadlines has become ridiculous. Your deadline of ALL reading is Fridays at 5, not postings in bits and pieces as you get to it. Your second story -- you know you haven't turned it in.
If I can't get my editor-in-chief to adhere to deadlines, who can I get to do it? You are the example, Krista. Let's make the rest of our summer independent study a better example of how you hope you staff to treat you when it comes time to make a deadline.
Everything else is great. Let me know if you have any questions about my expectations of you as we wind down this summer work -- remember to look at the syllabus so you know what's coming due (and what is past due).
See you on the blog next week,
Danita
I know I am late, and looking at the clock, I am late again. :( I don't like to make excuses and there really isn't one for why its late. I am just struggling with a lot of things this summer and can't seem to get a hold on it. I know that I will make them when i get away from here. Lots of stuff has just come up here and I can't wait to get back down there.
Post a Comment
<< Home