To the Editor:

Recently it was announced that the Publications Board has approved the start of a new newspaper aimed at, and edited for, faculty and staff at ISU.

This paper reportedly will be headed by a “professional” editor and will have a staff separate from the Iowa State Daily.

However, the paper will use the Daily’s computer equipment, and the staff will be housed in the Daily office. The reason given for this paper’s emergence is that of increasing the revenue of the Daily by giving advertisers an opportunity to reach a select market.

During the past few years under Business Manager Janette Antisdel the Daily has made great strides economically. New computer equipment has been purchased, the Daily has its own World Wide Web server and advertising revenues have dramatically increased.

None of this is open to question. However, I believe the decision to bring in a non-student, professional editor is not wise.

The Daily has — at least during my 20 years at ISU — been independent of faculty, administration and of its advertising staff. Editorial decisions have been separate from advertising decisions and that is the way it needs to be if a newspaper is to maintain its credibility.

I believe the plan to bring in a non-student editor potentially threatens this editorial independence.

A professional, non-student editor will report to the Business Manager and this offers the potential for conflict.

This is not to infer any criticism of Ms. Antisdel. However, in the future what is to happen if a new business manager comes in without a commitment to editorial freedom for the Daily? What is to happen to the non-student editor if the new publication fails?

I have been told the editor would be hired only on a short term contract and from this I assume the editor would lose his or her job if the paper failed. What if this is not the case? What if there is a decision to keep the editor and simply move this person back to the Daily?

Would this person then see his or her allegiance to the business manager and to the university administration rather than the students?

Why not choose the editor for this new paper the same way the editor of the Daily is chosen. I would be quite surprised if there were no student candidates for this position. I would also suggest that the new student editor report to the publications board, not to the business manager. This would insure student control.

All of this may seem a bit paranoid on my part. But I feel strongly that a student paper needs to be completely separate from faculty, from the administration and from advertising influence.

Of course, only time will reveal answers to the above questions.

In the meantime we need to remember that independence and freedom from pressure are not permanent, but must be earned each day by constant vigilance.

If the Daily is to remain a student paper it must remain student edited and the editor must continue to be accountable only to ISU students and to the Publications Board.

Bill Gillette, Ph.D.

Professor, Journalism Mass Communication