This week, The Michigan Daily celebrated 107 years of editorial freedom, but college newspapers around the country face a less promising future. The Ames Daily Tribune, a 10,000 circulation paper in Ames, Iowa, sued the Iowa State Daily, claiming that the Daily, a recipient of Iowa State University funds, is a source of unfair advertising competition. This lawsuit creates a chilling scenario, not only for the Iowa State Daily, but for college papers nationwide.
Leading the assault against the Iowa State Daily are university faculty members Gary G. Gerlach and Michael G. Gartner. Gartner - a former NBC News president and Pulitzer Prize recipient - along with Gerlach, own and run the Tribune. Their lawsuit would force the Iowa State Daily to work below potential and restrict news coverage and advertising strictly to the campus area.
Because the Daily receives university funding - mainly for distribution - it is, by definition, part of a governmental agency. To Gerlach's and Gartner's advantage, an arm of the government cannot compete with a private company. Using the Iowa Freedom of Information Act, the two men attained the Daily's advertising and distribution records. Citing unfair competition, Gartner filed a lawsuit against the university. The problem is not with the letter of the law or how Gerlach and Gartner used it, but rather with the corrupted spirit of the lawsuit.
Iowa State students constitute almost half of the Ames community. Limiting the Daily advertising and distribution to campus is unfair to the student readers who live and work off-campus. A university paper is also responsible for reporting news and running advertisements that effect the student body - whether on or off campus.
As faculty members at Iowa State, Gerlach and Gartner hold a responsibility to their students, many of whom work at the Daily. The student journalists, sales coordinators and editors strive to be the two men's future colleagues. However, instead of teaching their students, they are suing them for their success.
The news industry exists because of competition; whether reporting or advertising, the paper with the best of both will succeed. In Ames, however, the paper with the best of both is being sued. Gerlach and Gartner hold a valid legal point but the Daily is first and foremost a college paper - it exists to inform the student body of newsworthy events, voice student opinion, and unite the campus community. It runs with the hard work of dedicated students and in most cases, supportive faculty members. Gartner claims, "I love the kids at the Daily ... I just don't want them to stab me in my back when I put out my paper and sell my adds." Gartner needs to make a choice - teach and push students to succeed at the Daily or operate a competitive local newspaper. Clearly, his dual career presents a conflict of interests.
Perhaps more important, however, is the repercussions this lawsuit could have on student newspapers across the nation. While this lawsuit does not seek to destroy the Daily, it would severely handicap it. This precedent must not be set, whether or not the student paper conflicts with local businesses such as Gerlach and Gartner's. College papers need the freedom to educate students to join the profession. Here is the opportunity for these two esteemed journalists to place the ethics of journalism above their own petty pursuits - only then will they have helped their students to the best of their abilities.
10-03-97
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