Conflict of interest at TWU May 9, 2006
Posted by mwj as governance, journalism, politics, twu, twusa. trackback.At Trinity Western University, the newspaper is run a bit like it was in the Soviet Union. One man is resonsible for appointing the editor of the school newspaper, Mars’ Hill. This same man is also the chief advisor to the student government, TWUSA. This same man is also the only person on the final appeals board for “accountability” (i.e. disciplinary) issues. This same man is also in charge of the most ubiquitous campus institution, Student Life.
This man is, in fact, in charge of most of the campus organizations that Mars’ Hill regularly reports on. In addition, he has said that a regulating factor in the formation of policy for Mars’ Hill should be the consideration of how donors react. In other words, “we don’t want to be too incendiary, because they might withdraw their money.”
All of this adds up to a major conflict of interest. This man has a huge vested interest in who the editor is, and he has the sole discretion to make this decision.
In addition, this man has voiced distate for Mars’ Hill in the past, even saying to one reporter last year that he has “nothing to say” to the paper. He has also repeatedly slowed down the selection process, dragging it into the summer and leaving potential editors wondering what they’re going to be doing the following year.
Unfortunately, student concerns have gone unheard. Moreover, most of the broader student body is almost completely unaware of how bad the situation is, because Mars’ Hill chooses not to report on these issues to avoid a perceived conflict of interest themselves.
Yet this is an issue that affects every student who reads the newspaper. Mars’ Hill has received little to no help from this man who purports to be committed to excellence in student media. In fact, Mars’ Hill has regularly been hindered by the current system. This system has put massive strain on Mars’ Hill staff, and it has affected the quality and breadth of coverage, as well as putting huge and unneccessary strains on the financial situation of the paper.
As VP Student Relations this year, one of my main commitments is to fixing this problem. I will be thinking about this issue quite a bit this summer, and researching the relationships that other student newspapers have to their administration and student council.
Once I begin to gather some data, I will be posting it to this site, and probably creating a separate page for my findings. Until then, your comments are welcome.
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