Texas A&M students to weigh in on future of newspaper as some raise censorship concerns
Texas A&M University will seek feedback from student newspaper representatives after coming under fire for a sudden request to halt publication of a weekly print publication.
Last week’s order raised immediate concerns about the censorship of the 129-year-old newspaper The Battalion. President M. Katherine Banks’ initial ultimatum – to stop printing immediately and come under the tutelage of a university department, or lose much of its current resources – came without any consultation with the members of the newspaper or its adviser pedagogic.
On Friday, Banks backtracked on her directive and gave the newspaper until the end of the spring semester to make a decision. And on Monday, she said she would add two students along with other media experts to a task force to rebuild a journalism department on the College Station campus, underscoring The Battalion’s desire to maintain its own editorial influence. .
“In addition, the task force should assess how the battalion can best fulfill its mission of being a strong, independent student voice going forward,” Banks said in a statement. “Thank you to everyone who shares my commitment to elevating Texas A&M as a leader in protecting the role and improving the quality of the free press in our society.”
Banks, who assumed the presidency in June after nine years as dean of the engineering school, had told The Battalion leadership that the change would move A&M’s student journalism in the same direction as the evolution. of the media landscape. She added that this was not done in response to any of The Battalion’s editorial content.
This explanation did not satisfy many supporters of the newspaper. Most decisions to remove print editions are tied to funding, one college media expert said, and the A&M Journal is funded almost exclusively by advertising — not the university.
“It just doesn’t pass the smell test,” said Barbara Allen, director of college programming for Poynter. “I kind of wonder if this might not be punitive after years of people complaining that the newspaper is making exactly the kind of mistakes it should be making to help students prepare for a career in journalism.
Administrators understand that student newspapers are ultimately a training ground for journalism careers, so mistakes are inevitable and therefore necessary for the future of journalism, Allen said.
The battalion has operated without the support of a journalism school for years. Texas A&M eliminated its journalism department in 2003, leaving students with options for minor or independent study. Banks announced plans last year to reform a journalism department at the university.
The student newspaper has always managed to run a successful publication, with a long-standing online presence, Allen said. He has remained nationally respected and has a well-known faculty advisor.
“To suggest that there was something broken in their system of journalism seems a little strange,” she said.
Under Banks’ initial edict, the paper had to choose whether it would remain a student organization or move under the planned journalism department. Remaining a student organization means it would no longer receive certain resources, including its current office space and faculty advisor, the newspaper’s executives said.
Many students took to Twitter to express their outrage under the hashtag #SaveTheBatt
Initially asked why no one from the newspaper was involved in the decision, Banks replied that it was purely a “decision made by university management”, according to the newspaper.
samantha.ketterer@chron.com