PressEthic

Anyone who has ever worked for their college paper knows that reporting on a miniature society can, in many ways, echo a return to the fundamentals of grass-roots journalism.

Writers and editors of a college paper have a responsibility to report on anything and everything that takes place on campus, from student art shows to the retirement of professors. Staff members have a fundamental responsibility to inform, and failing to report on an event or phenomenon is likely to cause students to think that their own newspaper is out of touch with the community. If more than one paper even exists at the university, the competition is clearly drawn and easy to manage. Most importantly, nothing is done for profit. College papers are not stressing over profit margins, because no chance for cashing in exists. Life at the tightly crammed office of a college paper may produce grueling memories, but many are likely to miss the uncomplicatedly hands-on approach of university journalism.

According to a recent article by the Los Angeles Times, attempts to censor college journalists appear to be rather hands-on as well. Student Press Law Center, a nonprofit initiative, has reported 11 large-scale newspaper thefts across college campuses during this fall semester alone. Although most college publications are free, snatching loads of them at one time is considered suspicious behavior. These presumed attempts to prevent the university community from reading the paper are often triggered by the publication of unpleasant or unflattering stories, the L.A Times reports:

“Megan Boehnke, the editor of the University of Kentucky's student newspaper, came up with a big, controversial scoop for last Monday's edition. Under a banner headline, she announced that two students and a recent graduate had been legally drunk when they died in high-profile accidents this year.

But someone — who apparently didn't want the story out — decided to scoop up Boehnke's scoop.

Early Monday, more than 4,700 copies of the Kentucky Kernel went missing from bins around campus. The free paper's total press run is 17,000, but enough copies were stolen to dull the buzz for a while.

As censorship goes, snapping up truckloads of local newspapers ranks among the bluntest of tactics — right up there with serving hemlock to Socrates. And it's obviously not the kind of problem big-city dailies are worried about.

But newspaper theft is a recurring and pernicious issue for college newspapers, and one that has endured, strangely, through the Internet era, when most controversial articles are usually just a Google search away.”

Whether the thefts are carried out by students, staff members or faculty is not clear. One would assume, however, that a member of the administration would not be likely to load hundreds of papers from campus news stands into his car and risk becoming a laughing stock, no matter how unfavorable a story that edition included.

Regardless of who is committing these unrefined acts of censorship, is there a way to punish them?

According to the L.A Times, stealing free newspapers may become illegal in some states.

“Punishing the thieves can be tricky: Because college papers are usually free of charge, prosecutors sometimes refuse to treat their disappearance as a theft, though newspapers must sometimes reimburse advertisers.

Some states are trying to remedy the problem. California will soon join Maryland and Colorado in explicitly criminalizing the theft of free newspapers. Starting in January, the taking of more than 25 free papers will result in a fine of up to $250 for first-time offenders.”

One option would, of course, be instituting a small charge for all newspapers on campus. Making college publications less available, however, might drive away advertisers.

“It is, of course, the availability of papers on campuses that makes their theft so tempting. University of Kentucky police say that most of the thefts occurred within a mile of the Kernel offices.

But that concentration has also helped college newspapers avoid broader industry doldrums. Advertisers continue to be attracted to a medium tightly focused on an audience that is, by definition, young, educated and upwardly mobile.

Even in the Internet era, no product has come along to challenge college papers as the preeminent place for campus-specific news, according to Samantha Skey, a senior vice president of Alloy Media & Marketing, which places advertisements in college newspapers.”

Fundamentally, the L.A Times reports, many of these thefts may be less a result of organized crime than an expression of plain anger.

“With so many college papers posting their content online these days, observers can only guess why newspaper theft remains so prevalent.

Goodman of the Student Press Law Center blames college educators for failing to instill in students a proper respect for divergent viewpoints.

But Skey thinks it might have something to do with the permanence of the printed word in the interactive age.

Maybe, she said, 21st century students see distasteful news in the paper "and they're frustrated that they can't edit it.””

LA Times article