(Don’t) Stop the Presses

Last Wednesday, the staff of the Oregon Daily Emerald—the daily newspaper of the University of Oregon—went on strike to protest the dubious decision of its board of directors to hire a publisher with supervisory control over the content of the newspaper. This move was recommended to the board by paid consultant Steven A. Smith. After receiving his sage advice, the board turned around and hired none other than Stephen A. Smith, who had already written his own job description and salary. Since the strike, the board of directors has been continued publishing editions of the Emerald, filled only with stories from the Associated Press.

We are deeply troubled by the situation of the Oregon Daily Emerald. The recent decisions made by the Emerald’s board of directors threaten to undermine the independence that is essential to student journalism.

In our current financial climate, it is difficult for a student newspaper to maintain private funding and complete autonomy over its content. Still, the actions of the board of directors are unacceptable. The board should have negotiated the conditions of the new publisher position with the students. Furthermore, producing a paper without any student content in response to the protest is an insult to the years of work that the Emerald staff has placed into their newspaper.

Editorial independence is the pillar of an effective college newspaper, and it is clear that the independence of the Emerald would have been threatened under the arrangement proposed by the board of directors. Though Smith and the board assured the students that the publisher would not make serious changes to the content of the newspaper, giving an outside source complete supervisory control nevertheless places the editorial freedom of the Emerald’s student editors in a precarious position.

Jeanne Long, chair of the board of the Oregon Emerald, is correct in asserting that “the responsibility of the board is to oversee the welfare of the corporation, and the newsroom cannot dictate financial, nor personnel policy.” However, it is entirely unclear how the proposed reforms would help the paper’s dire financial situation. The board has not clearly explained how paying an outside source a substantial salary to control the direction of the newspaper will provide financial benefit. This expenditure does not seem likely to help the Emerald in any respect.

That said, the students’ strike may not be the best response to the problem. Both sides must be willing to negotiate with each other to construct the best plan possible, and the lines of communication must remain open. We hope that both parties will consider each other’s positions and devise a strategy that will both salvage the newspaper’s financial situation and, more importantly, protect the independence of its content.