A proposal before the Government of the Student Body to make the Des Moines Register and three national newspapers free campuswide has officials of the Iowa State Daily concerned about possible negative effects the expansion may have on their publication and on the ISU community.

The Gannett Newspaper Readership Program, currently under consideration by GSB, would provide four newspapers — the Gannett-owned Des Moines Register and USA Today, along with the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times — to students around campus. The program is already in place in the residence halls.

Gannett is one of the nation’s largest media companies, owning approximately 100 daily newspapers across the United States, along with various other newspapers, broadcasting outlets and Web sites.

Funding for the program would come from an estimated $5 per student per semester fee, which would be incorporated into the general fee — in the 2003-04 academic year.

Gannett’s efforts met opposition at a Jan. 14 GSB meeting, when Daily personnel expressed fears the program could end up costing students more than they realize and damage Iowa State’s student-run newspaper.

“There are hidden costs to this program in several ways,” said Nicole Paseka, the Daily’s editor in chief and senior in journalism and mass communication. “Students see these papers setting out and think it’s great, but they don’t realize there’s $10 tacked on to their university bills.”

Aaron Toye, representative for the Gannett-owned USA Today, said his corporation was not out to trick students or hurt campus publications.

“I truly do not believe the program represents a threat to the Daily,” he said. “There’s room for all our newspapers on this campus. The Daily can offer some things that USA Today or the [Des Moines] Register can’t, and those papers can offer some things the Daily can’t.”

Mark Witherspoon, editorial adviser for the Daily, said he first learned of Gannett’s ideas for implementing the program in college towns across the United States in the mid-1990s, when he was vice president of the College Media Association.

Witherspoon, lecturer in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, said before going ahead with the Readership Program, Gannett approached the Audit Bureau of Circulation — considered the official auditor of newspaper circulation — and asked that certain rules be changed so papers distributed on campus would be counted toward total circulation.

Witherspoon said the goal of the Readership Program is to increase the rates Gannett charges advertisers, because those rates are directly tied to circulation.

Toye said Gannett is trying to provide a service to students by offering access to renowned professional newspapers.

Witherspoon said a campuswide Readership Program would likely spell danger for the Daily.

“[The Daily] is one of the best college newspapers in the nation,” he said. “It is that way because our independence has allowed our students to excel in all areas, from editorial to design to ad sales. We’re able to serve the students well. And that’s because our students are good at selling advertising. But if you bring in four corporate papers, there’s the possibility that we’ll lose our national advertising.”

The natural outcome of such competition, Witherspoon said, would be the loss of quality in the student newspaper, which, in turn, would hurt students.

“The whole campus would suffer,” he said. “The students would not be as well informed and wouldn’t be able to make informed decisions. This is not just about the Daily. Gannett is asking students to pay $270,000 to hurt campus life — to injure themselves.”

Toye denied the Readership Program represents a threat to the Daily.

“All we want to do is ask students if they would be willing to pay for it each semester,” he told GSB senators. “Your circulation is 14,000, and we won’t distribute that much. I think it won’t be hurt.”

Witherspoon and Daily general manager Annette Forbes said the Daily has had a strained relationship with Gannett representatives in the past.

Four years ago, Gannett approached the Inter-Residence Hall Association, asking to implement a version of the Readership Program in the dorms, Witherspoon said. After the program was instituted, Daily staff met with two Gannett executives to discuss the future, he said.

“We asked them, if they were going to go campuswide, to come to us first,” Forbes said. “They said they would come to us if they considered expansion. Of course, they didn’t. Their track record in this area is not exactly stellar.”

Forbes said local advertising dollars are also at stake, because the Des Moines Register is part of the package.

“The Des Moines Register affords them the opportunity to take national inserts with a combined circulation, including campus.

“Typically, college newspapers have not had to fight off commercial interests. Gannett is threatening the educational mission college newspapers have,” Forbes said.

Henry Alliger, College of Agriculture senator, spoke in favor of accepting, at least, a trial period for the Readership Program and a vote on whether students favor the program. “We live in a market-driven society,” he said. “If you want to succeed, you have to go against the big dogs.”

GSB, while not yet currently set on considering a resolution to consider the program, is weighing the issue carefully.

“I need to get all the facts first,” said Tony Luken, Speaker of the Senate. “I was on the IRHA when it first started. It worked out well in the residence halls, but we need more discussion before we take it campuswide.”

Andrew Tugan, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences senator, said a pilot program would give GSB valuable student input on the program.

“As a student, I am in favor of [the program], because I want access to the papers it provides, especially the New York Times,” he said. “But as a senator, I’m aware that there are certain student groups who don’t want it. But I think we should run the pilot. It’s something for the student body to decide, not just the GSB.”