Should ads be protected as free speech?

The UMD Statesmen, the school newspaper for the University of Minnesota Duluth, has been told by the school chancellor that liquor advertising must stop, or the paper will lose its office in the Kirby Student Center along with funding from the student activities fee.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=41183&section=homepage

 

Nope.
Same reason papers I've worked for have terminated advertising relationships with strip joints.

 

My first question to the reichsfuhrer is if UM-D will make up the lost revenue. And if that means they have to stop accepting revenue from bars and clubs.

 

That's why the student newspaper should be independently financed. Sometimes easier said than done, but it's the administration's money, it can use it as it sees fit.

The only way to avoid that kind of meddling is for the paper go out on its own.

 

There a Hooter's wings planned for our area and their corporate office contacted us for ad rates. There's been some talk in the office whether or not to accept their ads. I think this would be a different animal than beer ads at student newspapers or strip club ads in other papers. I just wonder how many of our readers will be offended if we accept their ads? I'm sure there won't be a free speech issue for us, if a enough readers complain we'll probably won't accept the Hooter's ads.

 

Hooters is an established restaurateur open throughout the county.
Many readers of Sports sections are aware of the establishment. If properly placed in the section, I don't have a problem. For example, keep their advertisements away from prep or community news. Their ads are no less offensive than the slew of erectile dysfunction ads found under adlines in newspapers throughout the county.

 

What is offensive about Hooters is their greasy wings with blood in them. True story. Aint enough college aged tatas in the world to make me go back.

 

I'm not a First Amendment attorney (though I hope to be one someday), so maybe I'm adding nothing.
However, I remember from my media law class that if the school starts exerting authority over the paper, the school then becomes liable for any lawsuits that might come up.
So if this paper suddenly got sued for defamation of character, the chancellor and the university could be named in the suit.
That knowledge usually gets the suits to back off -- especially if you make it clear that the paper is getting ready to do a bunch of investigative reporting and has a whole crop of freshmen who don't yet know much about the law coming in.