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AP: Student newspaper at Missouri-Rolla threatens lawsuit over cuts

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Central-KY-Kid, Feb 16, 2007.

  1. Central-KY-Kid

    Central-KY-Kid Well-Known Member

    http://www.thecurrentonline.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=03108cfb-e218-4d46-be46-fe58036d7324

    Lawsuit looms for Rolla's student paper, editor says
    Jason Granger
    Posted: 2/25/07
    The UM-Rolla Miner, the official student newspaper at that University, received a response to its ultimatum to reinstate funding last Monday.

    In a letter sent to the newspaper staff, the University system, which handles legal matters, said it could find no evidence of restricted content or attempted censorship against The Miner.

    Chris Stryker, editor-in-chief of The Miner, said the response also includes half-truths and misleading statements.

    For instance, Stryker said the system attorneys said The Miner missed budget deadlines and filled out their budget request incorrectly.

    "We turned in what we were told by the people in student life was the correct way of filling the form out," Stryker said.

    Additionally, the system said many other organizations had cuts in their budget as well, but Stryker said that is only partly true.

    "What actually happened was, the organizations were told there were less dollars to go around, so the organizations asked for less," Stryker said. "So in reality, they got what they asked for."

    More troublesome, according to Stryker, is the fact that the system did not address accusations made by The Miner staff that the cut was based on content, including editorials and grammatical errors.

    A 2000 Supreme Court case ruled that student newspapers cannot have their budget cut over complaints regarding content or printing issues.

    "They [the administration] completely ignored the point of editing and grammatical issues," Stryker said.

    Another problem he sees is, no one from the system came to the leadership of the paper to get clarification about the issues raised. Stryker said if someone had just asked questions, then the newspaper would not have to be looking at a lawsuit.

    "We were never contacted," Stryker said. "No one ever tried to get our side of the story. They got one side, and took it as gospel."

    With the response from the UM System, Stryker feels the situation is sliding inevitably towards legal action, a step neither he, nor the rest of his staff, wanted to take.

    "We are headed towards a lawsuit," Stryker said. "That is something no one wants."

    The Miner has been working closely with the Student Press Law Center, according to Stryker, in order to make sure they are in the right. While he did not want to discuss specifics, Stryker said the newspaper will not back down from the lawsuit.

    The SPLC is a pro-bono legal institution that aids student media when situations like the one The Miner faces arise.

    In light of the budget cut and subsequent UM System response, The Miner has begun taking measures to protect what money they do have. Stryker said the paper has had to cut back on the number of pages it prints, and it no longer uses color every issue.

    "We will continue to print," Stryker said. "They won't stop that."
     
  2. Lester Bangs

    Lester Bangs Active Member

    Suggesting these kids "take their newspaper independent" is tremendous advice ... and naive in the extreme. If every college newspaper in America was to do this, it would be perfect, but it would also mean that a pool of thousands of college newspapers would be whittled down to about 25. Maybe 50, max.

    It's certainly the best way to do it, but it's simply just not even close to feasible for the vast majority of publications. Since universities are set up to serve as learning environments, you'd think the people who run the place could swallow their egos and actually let the students learn as opposed to try to crush them at any point where their opinions split. I suppose dealing with assholes is certainly part of learning the newspaper business, so there's that.

    Anyway, I have no idea of the specifics at Rolla, but I do know suggesting independence as a solution is a lot like telling your brother who can't pay his bills to go on out and win the lottery. The chances might be a bit worse with the lottery ticket, but not by much.
     
  3. Flying Headbutt

    Flying Headbutt Moderator Staff Member

    Why is that? My college's newspaper was independent and always chock full of ads from nearly all the local businesses. That said I went to a big school. Why wouldn't it work there?

    Also, this battle gives them a little bit of what to expect at times in the future, since not everyone is going to be so eager to help them with a story, and at times will try to shut it down, no?
     
  4. doubledown68

    doubledown68 Active Member

    What he said. I had to help move my cousin in there her freshman year. What a desolate place... besides, its an engineering school. They should know where the real money is at. :)
     
  5. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    My college paper wasn't independent, but it made enough money with advertising to support itself. The money was managed through the university. That was the problem.

    We had a dispute for over a year with a campus group. They were barring our reporters from public meetings. They basically wanted to assign a reporter to our staff to cover themselves, which obviously wasn't going to happen.

    They went to one of the local TV stations. And since our EIC was too much of an idiot to properly defend herself, we came off looking like crap and so did the university.

    This leads to a meeting with our editorial staff, the higher-ups from the campus group and the head of the university department that held the purse strings on both of us.

    He didn't care who was right. He basically told us to fix it or he was going to,"Nuke the paper and the campus group."

    We ended up just ignoring each other the rest of the school year. Not exactly a victory, but it could have been worse.
     
  6. wickedwritah

    wickedwritah Guest

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070227/ts_nm/crime_missouri_dc

    Wonder if the student newspaper will be allowed to cover this.
     
  7. Mystery_Meat

    Mystery_Meat Guest

    The Miner has been working closely with the Student Press Law Center, according to Stryker, in order to make sure they are in the right. While he did not want to discuss specifics, Stryker said the newspaper will not back down from the lawsuit.
     
  8. Lester Bangs

    Lester Bangs Active Member

    It's all about ad base. The theory works in places like Austin, Madison, Seattle and any other place where the ad base is broad and student dollars still a major part of the economy, as is the case in these three with campus populations well over 40k. But when you get into smaller markets those newspapers are going to struggle to survive, and if they do make it they are not going to be able to provide the appropriate environment and training opportunities to be worthwhile for the campus or the students who work at the place.

    There are plenty of college newspapers that are not only financial viable, they essentially have a license to print money. They turn profits that would make your head spin, which is why Gannett has actually bought a couple of student papers in Florida -- FSU and UCF.

    But for every paper like that, there are literally 50 that would have no prayer and could not survive as independents. For examples, see 99.9 percent of community college newspapers and about 95 percent at non-metropolitan campuses. Ad revenues just cannot pay the freight when the only businesses you have to call on are local bars and restaurants and campus organizations. Those dollars can play a large part, but it is damn near impossible to ask them to float the boat on their own.

    It's not an ideal situation as the student journalists are forced to rely on the altruism of the educators and administrators on their campus ... that they have enough integrity to let the educational process play out even though they have the ability to make life tough on these kids in other ways. When they don't play nice, the students have to fight back anyway they can. These are the kinds of situations that can usually be greased by a faculty adviser who knows how to talk to both sides and make sure molehills do not become mountains. Then again, sometimes students and administrators are too thick-headed to help.

    As for independence, most of the papers that claim independence have a certain amount of tie to their schools, be it through facilities or credit hours, so a truly independent college press is pretty rare.
     
  9. DisembodiedOwlHead

    DisembodiedOwlHead Active Member

    Why is the AP reporting on a THREAT of a lawsuit? Is it news until the papers are filed?
     
  10. I hope so.
     
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