Kara Hull follows-up her story on Tri-State's new don't-talk-to-the-press policy:
Tri-State University’s new policy that bars students and employees from talking to the media without permission is unique in northeast Indiana.
And officials from other area colleges and universities said Monday they aren’t interested in adopting similar policies.
Jeri S. Kornegay, public relations director for Manchester College in Wabash County, said Monday the school encourages faculty and staff who have spoken to members of the media to contact her office, but there’s no policy requiring the heads up.
“That seems to fly in the face of free speech and academic freedom to me,” she said. “I wouldn’t dream of doing that … the general thought of telling people that they cannot talk to the press, that borderlines on ridiculous to me. The idea that you could control thought on a university campus is kind of outrageous.”
[...]Patrick Johansen, director of Tri-State’s marketing department, said he spent 10 months researching the university’s new media policy and molded it after the policies of four other universities: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the University of South Carolina Aiken and Washington University in St. Louis.
But a review of the media policies of those schools Monday revealed that the media policy of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., was the only one of the four that requires reporters to get permission from school officials before interviewing students or employees. Rensselaer, which also has a campus in Hartford, Conn., has about 7,200 students enrolled this fall.
The other three schools’ media policies give suggestions to be used during interviews with members of the media, but don’t prevent employees or students from talking to reporters without checking with a university office. The media policies of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the University of South Carolina Aiken – which are almost identical – discourage students and employees from using the phrase “no comment” when talking with reporters, while the new Tri-State policy encourages it if a reporter approaches someone without contacting the marketing department first.
[...]University officials were in the process of revising the policy Monday to ensure that students know they won’t be penalized for violating the policy, Johansen said. Officials also are “working on a better strategy” to inform students of the voluntary nature of the policy after many students told The Journal Gazette this weekend that they didn’t read the e-mails the department sent out.
Employees of the university don’t have the same choice, Johansen said Monday. University officials haven’t determined what sanctions employees who violate the policy could face, he said.
“The voluntary nature does not apply to faculty and staff,” Johansen said. “We expect and hope that they follow them.
Congrats
to Johansen for getting Tri-State more publicity in the last two days
that it had in the last two years. I just hope none of his bosses mind
that it's been overwhelmingly negative...
Comments
In order to leave a comment, you must also leave your full name and a working email address in the event Fort Wayne Observed contacts you for confirmation. You may request that your email address not be published when your comment is posted.
Anonymous comments or those that include coarse language or personal attacks will not be tolerated.