UGA Red & Black staff walks out today in protest. Is it now Red & Dead?
UPDATED THURSDAY MORNING:
The student staff of the Red and Black, the acclaimed University of Georgia student-run newspaper, walked out en masse Wednesday to protest what the student journalists consider intrusive oversight of what had been one of the nation’s most well known independent campus publications.
Expect a lot of news coverage as many Atlanta journalists worked at the Red & Black while students at UGA. Please keep in mind that the newspaper is an independent, non-profit enterprise that supports itself largely through ad sales. It is not under UGA or President Michael Adams and receives no direct university support. That independence has given it far greater freedom over the years to criticize the university and its policies.
The Red & Black publisher Harry Montevideo has responded to student charges that their role was being minimized and that the board was giving more powers to non journalists to dictate content and that the focus was shifting from “news” to “good news.” He says:
“The Red and Black has always championed the best interest of student journalists. Core to our mission is providing the best possible training and experience which mirrors the real world. The changes occurring here reflect an ongoing commitment for the Red & Black Publishing Company, Inc to continue to offer a news product which is relevant for and accessible to our audience as we also train student journalists for futures in a rapidly changing world of news delivery beyond our traditional print format. There will be a quality student newspaper in our racks tomorrow, as there will be next week and the week after.
In a letter on a new blog, Red & Dead, former editor Polina Marinova explains:
The Red & Black’s top editors, design staff, photo staff and reporters walked out of the newspaper building this afternoon.
The Red & Black has covered the University of Georgia community since 1893 and has been independent of the University since 1980. The newspaper has always been a student-run operation, but recently we began feeling serious pressure from people who were not students. In less than a month, The Red & Black has hired more than 10 permanent staff with veto power over students’ decisions.
In a draft outlining the “expectations of editorial director at The Red & Black,” a member of The Red & Black’s Board of Directors stated the newspaper needs a balance of good and bad. Under “Bad,” it says, “Content that catches people or organizations doing bad things. I guess this is ‘journalism.’ If in question, have more GOOD than BAD.”
I took great offense to that, but the board member just told me this is simply a draft. But one thing that would not change is that the former editorial adviser, now the editorial director, would see all content before it is published online and in print. For years, students have had final approval of the paper followed by a critique by the adviser only after articles were published. However, from now on, that will not be the case. Recently, editors have felt pressure to assign stories they didn’t agree with, take “grip and grin” photos and compromise the design of the paper.
But what’s most alarming to me is that there was no input from The Red & Black student staff about any of these changes. I was doing an internship this summer, and I did not receive any materials related to these changes until I emailed the board member about it.
Even then, nothing was solidified, and I still do not even know what the print product will look like in a week. I’ve worked at this paper since I was a freshman and held multiple leadership positions. This semester, we have a really talented, smart and dedicated staff that had no voice in these changes. It all came from the top, not from the students.
The Red & Black has always been the best experience for student journalists. It’s no longer a place where lessons can be learned without “serious repercussions.” We don’t believe that is a learning environment.
As the former editor-in-chief, I stood by my editors and staff 100 percent, and what I found out today was that we all stood together.
You can read more about the controversy on this Facebook page for Red & Black alums, many of whom work in Atlanta media. You can also read more about today’s events at the Athens Banner-Herald.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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154 comments Add your comment
bootney farnsworth
August 16th, 2012
10:21 am
@ Craig
how do you figure?
Auntie Christ
August 16th, 2012
10:22 am
Good for these students, they’ve shown more integrity than any of the so-called ‘journalists’ who infest the MSM today, insulting the memory and legacy of people like Edward R Murrow, Walter Cronkite, William Paley, and others who actually reported on and investigated the machinations of government and industry. Today we have the likes of john king, who almost came to tears under newt gingrich’s castigation for asking a legitimate question regarding gingrich’s extra-marital dalliances; or any of the talking head news readers who dare not ask a penetrating question of those in power lest they lose their access to power, and risk their comfortable positions and salary, who won’t investigate or report on the corruption of our government by the moneyed class and the corporations, lest it jeopardize ad revenues for their corporate owners.
So here’s to you, student journalists hold to your journalistic integrity while you can, before you join the ranks of the sold out, bought-and-paid for, lazy cohort known as the MSM, and become beholden to the likes of rupert murdoch, the cox family or the board of the tribune corporation.
Follow the Course
August 16th, 2012
10:28 am
Bootney … you are making my point for me … “drive off your best and brightest and (as a whole) land on their feet. usually in a better situation.” …
Whom is saying that these are the “best and the brighest” … those are opinions in the minds of the beholders (you) … you have a dog in this fight … you are not thinking logically …
Dawg67
August 16th, 2012
10:30 am
I think everyone here needs to understand that the Red and Black is an independent student newspaper, and UGA has no control over this entity at all. UGA does not fund it, dictate what is written, etc. While there are some UGA people on the board of the paper, this is not due to them being at UGA, but because they are in the journalism field, are in Athens, etc. But again, this is an independent paper, not a UGA publication.
real world
August 16th, 2012
10:34 am
To sum this up, you have now learned the golden rule of adulthood– He who has the gold, makes the rules. Learn it, live it, love it.
Craig Fowler
August 16th, 2012
10:34 am
@ bootney You’re right….these guys will never have to work for anyone in the future? Maybe they can start their own news organization.
Tag
August 16th, 2012
10:36 am
Sounds like censorship to me!
New Man
August 16th, 2012
10:40 am
@ bootney farnsworth
You speak the truth! Have you considered a career in politics? You speak w/ conviction and clarity.
Shame on UGA!
August 16th, 2012
10:42 am
After reading the “memo” from the Board Member with its grammatical mistakes, juvenile statements and just, quite frankly, nonsense, I am not surprised the students quit! My impressions of the Board at this moment: unprofessional, uneducated, power-hungry, misguided, and unfocused. My question would be: who is pulling the Board’s strings? If I were the students, I would demand who, why and where all of this embarrassing mess came from. The answers may not surprise us and would prove to be even more embarrassing for UGA. Here is hoping the advertisers take their money elsewhere!
Follow the Course
August 16th, 2012
10:47 am
Auntie … funny … hopefully tongue & cheek … ah, the view from the ivory tower … these “J-school types” are interesting
RC_K
August 16th, 2012
10:48 am
Until the R&B Board removes journalist such Kent Middleton these issue will persist. The UGA school of journalism has been atypical micro-management school writing since the 1980’s.
zeke
August 16th, 2012
10:52 am
what do you expect with repubs in charge?
Dawg67
August 16th, 2012
10:54 am
Shame on UGA: Again, this is not a UGA publication, but an independent paper, so why should this be embarrassing for UGA?
bu2
August 16th, 2012
10:59 am
Sounds like a bunch of spoiled children. They didn’t get to do whatever they wanted without review so they walked out. Those linked standards sound pretty reasonable. Basically, they want a paper that has an audience and sounds like it was written by adults, not a bunch of junior high kids.
Phil Osopher
August 16th, 2012
11:01 am
This die was cast in 1980 when the Red & Black split from UGA and the J-school. When you have Elliott Brack in charge, the result is not going to be journalism. But, it’s not the fault of UGA or the Grady college. Except for letting them leave in the first place.
Shame on UGA!
August 16th, 2012
11:12 am
Dawg67 – if this is “not” a UGA publication, where is all of this coming from? The R & B is a paper which services the University of Georgia community. Do I really have to explain how newspapers are influenced by outside sources? Really? Don’t get me started. Don’t fool yourself! I again call for the students to find out exactly why the Board has done this. Most times something good can come out of something bad. I am personally hoping that the “good” that comes out of this is a return to a student run newspaper!
Dan Beeson
August 16th, 2012
11:12 am
Newschick – Alexis Scott IS a working journalist, editor-in-chief of one of the nation’s oldest, and largest, African-American owned newspapers, the Atlanta Daily World. Do your homework.
Grady Class of 73
August 16th, 2012
11:15 am
The students work at the Red and Black for real world experience.
Part of the real world is the corporateownership with real world business interests that will seek to influence the content of the paper.
It is a constant pressure applied by both sides.
The students will be better educated for having experienced this during their tenure at the Red and Black.
I do agree with the concept of ever changing to keep current with emerging technology so the publication can remain viable. Newspapers that failed to do that since the advent of the internet are no longer in business.
joe in tucker
August 16th, 2012
11:15 am
maybe the students need guidance as to the difference between a tabloid and a newspaper.
Auntie Christ
August 16th, 2012
11:26 am
@follow the course: Please do “follow the course” i.e follow the course of treatment your MD has laid out for you, take your meds, get some rest, maybe then your comments will have some coherency instead of a random stream of consciousness….. interspersed by……ellipses…signifying nothing…
Shame on UGA!
August 16th, 2012
11:29 am
The students may need direction on how to improve the newspaper. Nothing is perfect and they are still students. Why not take the money the Board used to hire all of these new employees/overlords and use it to send the students to seminars, continuing education classes, meetings with journalists, graphic designers, etc … from the AJC and other newspapers. Help the students to become better, not insist they get permission.
Prof
August 16th, 2012
11:31 am
I have no connections with UGA save a few faculty friends there, not in Journalism. But as I read this story, a few questions occurred to me.
I agree that it does seem that the R&B’s Board of Directors think its articles are too negative and reflect badly on UGA. R&B may have no direct connection with UGA, but how many on this Board are UGA alumni?
I agree with Bootney Farnsworth, 9:35 am, and LawDawg, 9:45 am. It seems as if there have been some behind-the-scenes talks between the UGA administration, its Public Relations office, and the R&B Board of Directors. This is exactly the way such pressure to maintain a University “image” works. It works even better if the newspaper IS independent of UGA, for then there are unlikely to be many faculty repercussions. They tend to be noisy about “academic freedom.”
My other question: could there be some connection to the fact that UGA President Adams is on his way out? Is the dirty work of getting the R&B to become more “respectable” and “positive” being done before the new President arrives next year?
For I’m quite sure there will be more drastic changes coming with this new President.
SLB
August 16th, 2012
11:32 am
It would greatly shock me if it were not in large part connected to the fact that Cynthia Tucker is now at UGA.
Follow the Course
August 16th, 2012
11:32 am
Auntie … thanks for your advice … and FUNNY again … you were actually being serious I take it? that makes it even better … Sorry for your lack of a sense of humor and your “special view” …
UGA Grad '83
August 16th, 2012
11:33 am
The Board of this non-profit corporation has the legal right to run their organization however they see fit, but they should not call the Red & Black a “student newspaper” if the students don’t run it, any more than a McDonald’s franchise should call themselves a “student restaurant” if students work the counters and assemble the hamburgers, but adults really manage the place. The Red and Black is now just another commercial newspaper in Athens, which uses some student labor to keep its costs down. I hope the staff seizes this opportunity to start a true student newspaper – which will be the only one in Athens after yesterday. They may not have the nice offices and the salaries (at least not for a while), but they will definitely learn more.
Mountain Man
August 16th, 2012
11:43 am
If the Board wants to run the R&B that way – let them. Students (and others)will soon quit reading it. The students who walked out should start a REAL student newspaper with real journalistic integrity.
The only reason the editorial board should kill a story is if it exposes the paper to legal action or if its truth is in question.
Teacher's Son
August 16th, 2012
12:03 pm
@Dawg67: Been drinking the Koolaid long? You probably think Adams is the greatest thing since sliced bread, too. smh….
Big Al
August 16th, 2012
12:09 pm
Walking off the job? That won’t look good on their resumes.
Ted
August 16th, 2012
12:13 pm
Children,
God forbid you have to take a “grip and grin” and put it in the paper.
I laud your devotion to ethics, but we all know most of the things covered in the R&B are mindless stories, like one of the previous commenters mentioned. It’s not hard-hitting journalism.
Most of you won’t be working for “They Gray Lady,” so get used to doing things people like your publisher or paper’s owner want to see in print. That part’s called the real world.
Dawg67
August 16th, 2012
12:18 pm
Shame on UGA and Teacher’ Son: I would suggest you review the background of the Red and Black, and understand what it is and is not, as this is clearly not a paper run by UGA. As well, prior to throwing insults, please learn about the issues and then comment, not the other way around. The R&B has done some very tough stories on UGA and the administration for 30+ years, and the Admin has never been able to make any dent in the items reported before, so why would this change now? Any attempt would actually make a great story for the R&B. This is an independent paper, and UGA has no control over it. Would Adams have let stories be printed about the cost of his office furniture, allow for a photo to show him in a Where’s Waldo hat for Where’s Mikey?, etc. Stop throwing out your guesses and assumptions, and deal with the facts. Do I really have to explain how an independent company works to you?
GradyAlum
August 16th, 2012
12:37 pm
@Big Al, yes, it will. Having stood up for journalistic ethics to the point that you would walk out will look very good on a writer or editor’s resume. And @Ted, your reference to the Times as the pinnacle of journalism shows how little your know about newspapers today. The R&B is often the only reporter of incidences like the one last year when a diversity scholarship was axed to give Adams a raise. Sure, some pieces are fluff, but that’s true for any publication. On the front page of the Wall Street Journal’s online edition today, there’s a link to a story about collecting old gas pumps.
Follow the Course
August 16th, 2012
12:43 pm
Auntie Christ … I see you have taken the second semesters 201_J-school class … “if your position is not being supported … name-call, stomp your feet and holler louder” class.
Bottom line Auntie … these folks had a “choice” … they made their decision … and your opinion does not matter. Nothing matters except their “choice”. You can try to support and defend “their choice” …
You mention the “Murrow, Cronkite and Paley, I didn’t realize “they” worked in/with the R&B … since you are the “expert” … how many times did Murrow, Cronkite and Paley quit, walked out because their “Editor” told them to “temper” their reporting … time to put your “big girl pants” on Auntie.
PS … You have to see, understand, feel and hear the other views.
drew
August 16th, 2012
12:44 pm
Kudos to the kids !
Now, if only student athletes would walk out in protest of a school which makes millions off them.
Merrill Guice
August 16th, 2012
12:56 pm
It reminds me a lot of the dad who buys his son a train for Christmas and then spends the rest of the day playing with it himself. The publisher of this independent newspaper makes $175,000 a year. With that kind of bread on the line, it’s hard to blame him for wanting to take it over himself. But you have to condemn it because he’s violating the charter and the trust that was given him. Meanwhile, UGA now has a mess, with national news people descending on the story. Maybe they should have just agreed to let it be independent onky as long as Conrad Fink was alive.
Shame on UGA!
August 16th, 2012
1:01 pm
Dawg67 – As a business degree graduate of UGA, you do not have to explain to me how an independent company works. Thanks anyway! Also, since I have been out of UGA for over 30 years now, I have quite a lot of real world business experience as well. While I wish you were right about your assumptions, my experience tells me you are probably not. If this was all about improving the quality of the R&B, then the Board should have sat down with the staff, voiced their concerns and then worked with the students to create a plan to improve. That did not appear to have happened. Instead, the students received a “draft” of a poorly, mis-spelled memo that was so unprofessional that it should now be used in journalism/english schools everywhere as to what not to do! Unfortunately for this Board, they do not appear to know how to run an independent company. Maybe it is the Board that needs to be replaced, not the students. We will see and again, I reiterate my hope that this independent company will once again be run by the students. I would also like an answer to your question “so why would this change now?”
Shame on UGA!
August 16th, 2012
1:05 pm
@Merrill Guice – $175,000 a year? I am so in the wrong business!
Prof
August 16th, 2012
1:12 pm
@ Dawg67 and Grady Alum. The sort of “negative” administrative exposes by R&B that you note are just the sort of stories that a red-blooded University administration would like to prevent being printed. This is especially so in a time of disappearing budget support from the state legislature and declining student enrollment, when the great majority of Regents are UGA alumni. What better time to do this than during the transitional time between Presidents? No central figure to blame.
Dawg67
August 16th, 2012
1:12 pm
Shame on UGA: The Board of R&B does not represent UGA, so in your view (and most likely in many people now), it is just a poorly run board of an independent company, but that does not make it a UGA entity. If you as a business person are on the board of a company that makes a bad decision, that does not mean that your company is a bad company, only that you as an individual had a part in a bad decision. You have actually made my point for me, so thank you. As for why would this change now, I would guess that the independent company would have to change, but again, since it has no governance by UGA, the University should not be lumped in with an independent company. As for my “assumptions”, they are not assumptions, as they are specifically spelled out by the company: “The Red and Black Publishing Company, Inc. – Governing Statement : Who we are: The Red and Black Publishing Company, Inc. is an independent, private, not-for-profit corporation established in 1980.” That is the fact, and as such, it is independent. UGA has not had control or power over it for 30+ years, so I believe it is your assumption that needs to be reviewed.
Shame on UGA!
August 16th, 2012
1:17 pm
@Dawg67 – Alrighty then! LOL
RC_K
August 16th, 2012
1:19 pm
Shame on UGA, @Merrill is only reporting what is on record, but the so-called publisher is actually pulling down much more than 175K a year.
Prof
August 16th, 2012
1:21 pm
@ Mountain Man, August 16th, 11:43 am: “If the Board wants to run the R&B that way – let them. Students (and others)will soon quit reading it. The students who walked out should start a REAL student newspaper with real journalistic integrity.”
And where will the funding for this new student newspaper come from? The costs include more than salaries for the students.
Beverly Fraud
August 16th, 2012
1:21 pm
The students are wrong of course. You know this because OVERWHELMING numbers of legitimate journalists have spoken out in support of the director board, expressing ZERO concern about the integrity of their actions.
That HAS happened, right?
Beverly Fraud
August 16th, 2012
1:22 pm
Maureen this is YOUR area of expertise…what say YOU?
MortalWombat
August 16th, 2012
1:28 pm
As long as the crossword puzzle is still in the back, no one is really going to notice a difference.
Hillbilly D
August 16th, 2012
2:01 pm
And where will the funding for this new student newspaper come from? The costs include more than salaries for the students.
They’d have to convince somebody to foot the bill, at least for the start-up costs. Is that doable? I haven’t a clue.
Boys From North Ave
August 16th, 2012
2:33 pm
Go Jackets!……that said, this seems bad, very bad. I dont like the smell of this and I HATE Georgia. Let me know who to write to, where to complain, and who to yell at. Im on ur side Red and Black staff!
JacketFan
August 16th, 2012
2:35 pm
This R&B alum is firmly behind the students who walked out yesterday. Harry Montevideo pulled some junk when I was a writer there, but this one takes the cake. If they are trying to push out the students, then that leaves them in direct competition with William Morris and the Banner Herald. Good luck with that.
When I was a writer there, the great thing about the paper is that we, the student writers, were able to learn by doing. We weren’t writing the fluff pieces or institutional propaganda usually associated with a student paper (most of which are funded by an institution). We were never afraid to publish a “negative” story about U(sic)GA, its athletic programs, etc. We were encouraged to practice unbiased, journalistic integrity. That’s as it should be.
SM
August 16th, 2012
2:43 pm
So, let me get this straight. Because this is an independent newspaper, it’s impossible for anyone at UGA to influence the board or the way the stories are reported? THAT is the definition of naive.
Atlanta Native
August 16th, 2012
2:57 pm
Let me take the “other” side of this issue. I have been a journalist myself, so I speak from some knowledge. A few months back, an editorial appeared in the Red and Black newspaper, presumedly written by a staff reporter or editor, that was a blathering, idiotic, poorly written piece of drivel about the merits of male masturbation for college students. In one word, it was a piece of s___. If supervising such crap before it appears in print as representative of UGA students (although I realize that the paper is independently funded and not formally associated with UGA), then having an independent editorial board may be a good thing. And perhaps the aforementioned article is what is being referred to as “bad” by the Board. Any literate person who read the offensive piece stated above would know it should have been yanked. In situations like this, it’s never one-sided – but I do think the Board should have, out of respect for budding young journalists, hashed this out with the newspaper staff mutually.
Admiral
August 16th, 2012
3:07 pm
A couple of things need to be set straight here.
1) Ed Morales is not new at the Red & Black. The board has simply changed his “title” – which, as I understand it, is not even something he asked for. He’s been the editorial “adviser” for years, and has positively influenced the lives of countless aspiring journalists who passed through the Red & Black. He is an exceptional leader who is revered by his staff (including those who walked out, I promise you that).
2) HE DID NOT WRITE THAT MEMO. A board member did, and thus far everyone (including the editors who walked out, though maybe they don’t know) is too cowardly to say which board member.
There is clearly a problem in the upper management of the paper at the moment – but that problem is not Ed Morales.
Also, for those who want to poke fun at The R&B and/or UGA (read: unemployed, bitter Tech grads), do a little research. The Red & Black is highly decorated and consistenly rated as one of the top college newspapers in the country, thanks recently in small part to – you guessed it – Ed Morales.