Problems arise quickly when student newspapers aren’t controlled by students, such as Rutgers University’s newspaper, The Daily Targum. Last week, The Targum’s former opinions editor spoke out in a piece that appeared in the Huffington Post about how her right to freedom of speech was violated when her goodbye column for the newspaper was pulled by the papers’ board of trustees for failing to align with its political values.
The former opinions editor is a young Muslim woman named Amani Al-Khatahtbeh. According to her article for the Huffington Post, “The Board of Trustees is not only catering to the sole requests of Hillel, but is also exercising an overarching and seemingly limitless power over editorial content — positioning itself for an unchecked exercise of censorship. Not only has the board been a complete enigma to the editorial staff and public and criticized for its lack of transparency, but also information about its membership, capabilities and the limits of its editorial discretion are convoluted and not outlined anywhere on the Targum website.”
Al-Khatahtbeh detailed the intense scrutiny she was placed under during her run as opinions editor. She was constantly criticized from the get-go for alleged biases against Israel — even though she published plenty of pro-Israel content.
Colleges, she maintained, are supposed to serve as microcosms of society. Thus, college newspapers should serve as a forum for topical and, at times, controversial issues to be discussed — including the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
It only makes sense, then, that papers such as The Targum be fully independent. The lack of transparency on the inner workings of the trustees does not foster an environment of integrity and strong ethical values.
The Alligator operates independently. Students make every single decision every single night. Sure, this means we make mistakes, but it also means we can’t be told what to print (or what not to print).
This lack of dependence on anyone but ourselves — the university, Student Government, trustees — is especially clear to anyone who steps inside our beloved office: The 1970s wood paneling, dated vending machines and broken rolling chairs are a far cry from UF’s signature sleek interior decorating in those iconic shades of orange and blue.
And we wouldn’t want it any other way.
As young reporters and editors on staff at a functioning daily newspaper, our job is both to serve the journalism needs of the UF community and Gainesville as well as to learn how newsrooms are run.
We hold the Alligator to the same professional and ethical standards to which other, larger newspapers are held.
Our job is not to serve the interests of UF, SG or a board.
Our job is to report news accurately and fairly.
The only way we can do that job is by being independent, and we value that above all.
[A version of this editorial ran on page 6 on 2/17/2014 under the headline "College newspapers should remain independent"]
