Dear Grinnell Community,
As a journalism professor and a former editor of The Scarlet & Black, I strongly support The S&B newsroom leaders in opposing the potential of an administration-imposed forced cancellation of their printed newspaper.
Grinnell College has a long history of empowering student decision making, respecting student agency and supporting self-governance.
The S&B, recently awarded Iowa’s best college newspaper, has been printing for 130 years. Any decision to suddenly cancel that legacy should be made solely by the student editors in consultation with their journalism advisor — not by a mid-level administrator.
Grinnell is a residential campus, filled with students who love to read printed media, including books, magazines and newspapers. The editors tell me that nearly all copies of The S&B they print are picked up by readers.
This should be a “yes, and” situation, where The S&B continues printing, and the College could pay the tiny cost, $528 yearly, of adding a digital edition archive IN ADDITION if the student editors feel it is needed.
It would be unfair to impose a unilateral decision to cancel printing for next year and then notify student editors just weeks before their graduation, right when the students are submitting class projects, preparing for final exams and hunting for job openings post graduation.
I ask the College’s top leadership to show more support to the award-winning student journalists on campus.
Sincerely,
Sharyn Obsatz `93
Chair, Society of Professional Journalists Education Committee
Journalism Professor, Santa Monica College
