The Journal, the independent student press of East Central University, is closing its doors April 28, but its rich history will not be forgotten. BYGONE DAYS
The newspaper began operating on campus in 1916, but in 1995, something changed.
“A professor of journalism at the time questioned the freedom of the press as far as The Journal was concerned,” Cathie Harding, Journal advisor, said. “At tha
t time, students ran the newspaper from the Public Information Office under the supervision of Rebecca Kennedy.”
Harding said the professor wanted to publish her students’ work in a small newspaper generated in class.
“They wrote a story over a scandal concerning one of the sports teams and published it in a little paper placed, I think, near or in Journal stands,” Harding said. “The Journal did not cover the story. The professor said one was needed because the existing student paper was not a free press. This led to an investigation by the Board of Regents of Oklahoma Colleges in response to allegations leveled by the Society of Professional Journalists. No evidence of censorship was found but in an effort to avoid the issue in the future, the independent Journal system as students know it today was created.
“The university is ready to take a leadership role in creating an independent student press completely apart from administrative or academic oversight,” Cole said at the time. The goal was to avoid any misconceptions of undue influence over editorial content. The press would be governed by a nine member editorial board. The board consisted of two community media representatives, two faculty, two administrators, the Student Senate president, the vice president and one attorney. They initially established editorial and advertising guidelines, recommended Harding, an English teacher from Kansas, as advisor and at monthly open meetings provided fiscal oversight for operations of the paper.
“They were tough, but they made sure the student editor was solely in charge of the content of The Journal and that I hired quality staff and ran things professionally,” Harding said. “Sharla Bardin was the first editor and she was perfect for the job. No one, not me or anyone on her staff, told her what to put in the paper.”
“Serving as the editor of The Journal has and will always remain a proud moment for me,” Bardin said. “It was also an experience that served to equip me for a career as a journalist. In those early days, we were charting new territory and finding our voice. We were tackling important issues and spotlighting some fascinating students, faculty and programs. We were trying to establish a legacy for the future staff to build on and enhance through the years.”
Harding said the system has worked and except for one unusual instance The Journal has never been censored since gaining its independence.
“One time some faculty members begged students on staff to not tell a story circulating around campus about a kidnapping,” Harding said. “They succumbed to the pressure and decided to censor themselves, but when I realized what they were up to, I told them they had to tell the story. Why are we in the business if we don’t let the campus know what is going on?”
The story was never told and turned out to be a hoax but Harding was still disappointed in this particular staff and their decision. The Journal operations run solely on advertising sales. The university has not paid a penny to print the paper since 1995, one of Dr. Cole’s stipulations. When operations cease at the end of this semester, The Journal will turn over approximately $15,000 in carryover and revenue from 2015-2016 ad sales. ECU does pay for advisor and student salaries. The paper has come out on time every Thursday for 21 years except for two unavoidable weather related incidents. The paper has never been sued for libel.
“I am so proud and grateful for The Journal, so impressed by the staff that has served it so well through the years and for the incredible leadership of Cathie Harding,” Bardin said. THE FUTURE
It was announced at an editorial board meeting April 6 that The Journal will no longer exist as an independent press and the future of the newspaper is uncertain
“It is up to different officials to decide, and they’ll make the decision that is best for the campus and the students and what’s feasible and workable for everybody,” Susan Ingram, instructor of mass communication and chairman of The Journal Editorial Board, said. At the meeting Ingram discussed some of the proposed solutions for continuing operations. There is a possibility it could move to the mass communication department as part of their academic program and come out once or twice a month online.
“For many years we’ve been very proud of The Journal,” John Hargrave, ECU president, said to The Ada News. “Unfortunately, with historic budget cuts, it’s very possible I am going to have the very unpleasant task of seeing an era come to an end in some ways.”
The financial situation has caused a multitude of resources and programs to be eliminated. The decision was made to not keep a full-time employee as advisor upon Harding’s retirement in June.
“I think it’s really about the budget situation,” Ingram said. “Everything has come down to budget cuts. It’s tough times. Tough economic decisions have to be made.”
At the board meeting, Ingram said a final decision has not been made as to whether or not The Journal will continue to exist in a different format or be discontinued altogether. Hargrave has stated it seems very unlikely The Journal will return in its independent form in the near future.
“The Journal has been a great thing,” Ingram said. “The students have an outlet for their voice. I know a lot of campuses still have student newspapers, but times are also changing and it’s hard to say what the future will hold and what impact it would or would not have.”
SPEAK OUT
“The Student Voice of East Central University” is the phrase found on every issue of The Journal in some fashion. It declares the paper to be a mouthpiece for students to communicate amongst themselves and with faculty and staff members of the university.
“If you don’t use it, you lose it,” Caleb Savage, Del City senior, said. Since the news of the decision to cut the paper in its current form became known, current and previous students as well as faculty members had something to say about a possible freedom of speech issue.
“The Journal staff has done a fantastic job in the last four years finding stories that create intrigue, raise awareness and bring Tigerland closer together,” Savage said. “In typical college form, student critics chose to ignore The Journal or complain online instead of interacting with The Journal. Hopefully this change incites action among students to speak up and speak out more often.”
A university exists to educate students and advance the frontiers of human knowledge and does so by acting as a marketplace of ideas, something that wouldn’t be possible without the ability of expressing freely, Hector Perez, ECU alumnus and former editor-in-chief of The Journal, said.
“When I heard the news The Journal would no longer exist, it made me very sad because I owe my career experience to the paper,” Perez said. “I felt bad for the current students and those who are coming in the future because they won’t have a space to freely share their ideas.”
Perez, who hails from Venezuela, a country with 579 reported freedom of expression violations in 2014, is passionate about the rights encompassed in the First Amendment.
“Freedom of speech is a right every human being needs and it’s a right we all must fight for,” Perez said. “Coming from a country that continuously violates freedom of speech has made me appreciate the opportunity we have in this country to say whatever we want wherever we are, and that’s something the American people should fight to keep.”
“The First Amendment protects critics of those in power. It is what sets democracies apart from dictatorships,” Christine Pappas, professor and chair of the department of political science and legal studies, said. “The First Amendment ensures one can speak truth to power. It protects you when you’re speaking to the U.S. president or the ECU president.”
