In the News

Daily Illini, June 11, 2007

Last week both houses of the Illinois Legislature voted overwhelmingly to pass the College Campus Press Act. If signed into law, the act would officially designate every public and community college media outlet as a "forum for student expression," which would free the publication from schools' administrative control. This was in response to a 2005 court case involving the college newspaper at Governor's State University which was prevented from being published by the dean of student affairs. Following a series of scathing stories about the school's administration, the Dean demanded that she be able to review and approve the entire paper. That newspaper, The Innovator, has ceased production and a new publication, aptly named The Phoenix, has taken its place.

The College Campus Press Act would prevent administrators from taking this kind of tyrannical action and be a step forward for the rights of a free student press. This act's importance should not be underestimated, especially in light of recent events at Saint Louis University, a private school, where officials have effectively neutered the student paper by rescinding its charter and replacing it with one made without any editorial board input. One of its provisions, among others, is that the editor hiring process be handled by the administration, instead of internally. This practice was under scrutiny earlier this year after an administrator at the University of Southern California blocked the re-election of the editor in chief of The Daily Trojan due to his push for greater financial transparency.

The Daily Illini, published by the Illini Media Company, is independent of the University and not subject to administrative oversight. For this, we are thankful. However, the legislation's sponsors, Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest), state Sen. Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) and Urbana democrat Rep. Naomi Jakobsson should still be praised for taking the initiative to safeguard the Illinois collegiate press in its role as a watchdog and an unbiased source for its readership.