The Daily Athenaeum
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Daily Athenaeum is WVU’s independent student newspaper and publishes content that portrays the University truthfully, positive and negative.
Right now, you are reading a piece that is a part of our Homecoming Edition. Imagine if you couldn’t read news that portrays WVU authentically during Homecoming Week because alumni are returning to campus. Imagine if you couldn’t hear the stories of alumni, get updates on internet issues or learn how much money WVU Athletics earned from beer sales at the stadium last year.
Fortunately, you can. The DA operates independently from WVU, meaning it can’t tell us what we can and cannot publish.
The DA receives funding to print its newspaper through the University, in addition to advertisements sourced from Prospect and Price Creative, WVU’s student-run marketing agency. Despite this, we bring you news, regardless of how it portrays the University.
The Indiana Daily Student, the student newspaper at Indiana University, received news on Oct. 14 that its Student Media Director Jim Rodenbush was fired, effective immediately. Following Rodenbush’s firing, IU entirely cut the publication’s print funding, including special editions.
The paper stopped printing regular editions last spring over cost concerns, but continued to print special editions like the Homecoming Edition. Now, it will print neither.
Prior to this, IU explicitly told IDS that in its Homecoming Edition, it was to print “nothing but information about homecoming — no other news at all, and particularly no traditional front page news coverage.”
IDS refused to comply and exclude news stories from its Homecoming Edition. For reference, you are reading this in the DA’s Homecoming Edition now, because we have editorial freedom.
When Rodenbush was first approached by the Media School about not including news in the Homecoming Edition, he responded and said that this would be censorship. Assistant Dean of Strategy Administration Ron McFall at the Media School replied, asking how the request could avoid looking and sounding like censorship.
In a statement to IDS, the Student Press Law Center said that this is a case of censorship and is against the First Amendment.
“The Media School’s order limiting the Indiana Daily Student’s print edition to homecoming coverage isn’t a ‘business decision’ — it’s censorship.”
The IDS staff members emailed the Media School, asking for clarity on its request and to reverse the decision.
Indiana University’s Media School did not.