A dozen-and-a-half college newspapers across the country, including the Daily Trojan itself (in its online edition) — though not, alas, the Observer — published a “collaboratively written editorial” today that blasts the USC administration for its actions in the Zach Fox controversy. The L.A. Times published it, too. Money quote:
Our society relies on its newspapers to check powerful individuals and institutions. An administration-controlled student paper poses the same threat to an academic community that a state-controlled press would to a nation; oversight limits the press’ ability to act as a watchdog and prevent misuse of authority. The USC administration’s interference with the student press creates a chilling effect, forcing student journalists to weigh the risk of losing their jobs against the duty of writing a story about or questioning the administration. Such considerations hamper a paper’s ability to do its job. If USC intends to imbue any journalistic values in its students, it must allow its students to be journalists without fear of administrative reproach.
The editorial reveals that Fox’s hand-picked successor, Jeremy Beecher, was approved by the Media Board yesterday. This despite the fact that, from what I understand, Beecher intended to go into the Media Board meeting and straightforwardly demand full editorial autonomy immediately, including disbanding of the Media Board process itself. I don’t know how that turned out, but I do know that Jeremy Beecher is officially the editor-in-chief. Sounds like progress.
P.S. The Daily Californian signed on to the collaborative editorial, but also published its own editorial, proposing a more radical solution: “when Michael L. Jackson, USC vice president for student affairs, announced last week that the board had refused to even hear the application of incumbent editor in chief Zach Fox, the choice of the Trojan’s employees, there should have been only one acceptable response—a staff walkout.”
Heh. Typical Berkeleyites. :)
The Daily Cal concludes: “while this editorial should not be interpreted as a call for the Daily Trojan to declare their independence, now is the time for bold action. Student publications across the country, from the Daily Californian to the Harvard Crimson, have united in support of the Trojan staff. But it is ultimately up to them to salvage their paper. And if history is any lesson, timid appeasement is hardly the way to go about it.”
|
Categories: Daily Trojan: Zach Fox controversy
|
December 5th, 2006 at 4:58:56 pm
There are certain people in this world you shouldn’t mess with and journalists top the list. You have a bunch of underpaid, intelligent idealists with a massive platform. Michael Jackson got burned on this one and he deserves every second of the bad PR. Mwahahaha.
December 5th, 2006 at 5:08:44 pm
An administration-controlled student paper poses the same threat to an academic community that a state-controlled press would to a nation; oversight limits the press’ ability to act as a watchdog and prevent misuse of authority. The USC administration’s interference with the student press creates a chilling effect, forcing student journalists to weigh the risk of losing their jobs against the duty of writing a story about or questioning the administration.
This sounds powerful at an esoteric level, but in reality it is an American-centric view that is more or less bunk. Look at the BBC and CBC and NPR — they are fully capable of investigative, watchdog journalism even though they are all funded or controlled by governments, to varying degrees. Sometimes we get so caught up in our checks and balances and separation of powers doctrines that we think such things are ipso facto a requirement for many non-governmental things as well.
December 5th, 2006 at 8:57:51 pm
Don’t know if you know this, but today’s Daily Princetonian also had an editorial on the firing. And I’m pretty sure that I was the only person on campus who had an idea what they were talking about…
December 6th, 2006 at 1:43:49 pm
Andrew - sadly, it has been quite a while since the BBC lived up to its then-well-earned reputation of the middle of the 20th century …
December 7th, 2006 at 3:37:56 pm
[…] ach. … Jeremy Beecher, was approved by the Media Board yesterday. … Read more: here
Posted in administr […]