Would the Tan & Cardinal staff put up a tough fight if it ever faced censorship?
This summer, the students at the University of Georgia’s student newspaper sure did.
The editor-in-chief, as well as several other top editors at The Red and Black, resigned after they said control of the paper was being taken away from them. This was in response to a draft memo written by the newspaper’s board of directors.
The draft memo effectively instituted a policy of prior review, in which a nonstudent editorial director would review all content before it was published. His position gave him the authority to decide whether he wanted to keep something from being published, which is the definition of censorship.
Staff members who resigned demanded that the board not only rescind the prior-review policy, but also that the board member who wrote the draft turn in his resignation.
When the situation was still going on, the Tan & Cardinal staff was in support of the student editors. Some of us followed their cleverly named blog, Red and Dead, where they constantly reported updates on the situation. What is even more impressive is that they continued to do the work of their former jobs, posting news, A&E, opinion and sports articles related to the university to the new website.
Freedom of the press — for both student newspapers and all other newspapers — is an absolute necessity. Otterbein student media is the last refuge for unbiased campus news, whether it shows a positive or negative side of the college. We are here to give you important information about the college you attend, and we are not going to hold back even if that information reveals something the administration might not want you to know.
We are the voice of the students, and we will always fight to retain that right.
As a new school year starts and new challenges unfold for the Tan & Cardinal, we vow to fulfill our duty to tell Otterbein students the important information they need to know.
Before school started, the incident at The Red and Black was resolved. After several meetings with the board of directors, a decision was reached: The prior- review policy was rescinded, and the board member who wrote the draft chose to resign.
The student editors quickly reapplied for their jobs. They won. And, more importantly, so did their readers.
