By Stephen Cooney

The Chronicle operates completely independent of campus administration and regulation. We are granted a budget like every other student club on campus by the discretion of the SGA and function on our own accord to gather news and other information pertinent to our student body, faculty and staff.

We keep in close conduct with University officials and faculty not only about what has been printed in our publication, but also about the general progress and finance of our media outlet. To further the process, journalism professor Peter Goodman serves as our academic advisor in order to guide our journalistic efforts and is always around to help us settle editorial disputes and issues. Aside from the guidance and general interest of the University, we act completely independent and are responsible for what is published, reported and created for the publication. These people by no means have an oversight or control over what is published. This is a basic standard for college journalism and acts to keep University news organizations a true source of information for the community.

A few days ago mass media studies professor Paul Mihailidis informed me of a situation reported by The Columbian, a Clark County, Wash. newspaper, that upset this notion of independent journalism on college campus.

Christina Kopinski, a journalism professor at Clark College in Vancouver, took over the job during the 2006-07 academic year and pushed students working at the paper to focus on investigative stories and report about the general progress and workings of the University. According to the story in The Columbian, this type of reporting seemed to upset the administration of the university and is probably the reason for Kopinski’s denial of tenure.

Kopinski and many other members of the faculty were quoted in a story stating that they feel hers is a wrongful termination based on the hardnosed stance of the newspaper. Though the president of the Clark College denied these claims, it is difficult to believe them for several reasons. The professor was highly recommended by the rest of the staff and 11 other staff members were granted tenure on the same day. Coincidentally, Kopinski will be fired by Clark at the end of the term in June. These signs and the denial clearly point to some sort of punishment for the analytical work of the campus newspaper.

The idea that a professor would be punished for the actions of her paper is completely ridiculous and unfair. Advisors may push a paper to do something, but what results is the product of the staff and in no way grounds for reprimand. No one would discipline a publisher for the work of a newspaper. In that respect, college media outlets strive to function as a true source of news. If students are to fear pushing the limits of journalism or doing actual reporting for the safety of their advisors, this could silence their voice.

By punishing the campus newspaper’s advisor, Clark crossed a line and has threatened to hush their news outlet. If Clark had a problem with the stories they should have contacted to the students running the paper and not the advisor. Hopefully, the student journalists continue to work towards their advisor’s goal and will keep up their investigative work across campus. There is no reason for an administration to castigate a faculty advisor for the work of the paper.

Work that would be rewarded and even promoted in most media outlets should be treated the same way on college campuses. Independent journalism is necessary in all societies and should be encouraged on campuses.

Stephen Cooney is a senior print journalism student and Editor-in-Chief of The Chronicle. You may e-mail him at

editor@hofstrachronicle.com.