At UT Dallas: EIC fired, journalists on strike
Highlights issues with student media independence on campus
The Mercury, the newspaper at the University of Texas at Dallas, ceased publication to protest a university board’s vote to fire its editor-in-chief over allegations students said lacked substance.
The editorial board and staff plan to continue publishing under a new outlet unless the university meets their three demands: Reinstating the EIC, amending the Student Media Bylaws and electing the EIC by student vote.
“The general vibe among our team and our office is that the removal (is part of) far bigger structural issues in student media and student affairs” that replacing the EIC wouldn’t solve them, said Maria Shaikh, the managing editor acting as EIC.
Shaikh told The Nutgraf the strike is split into two phases: Management has begun the strike, but staffers will join if the ousted EIC loses his appeal.
The new outlet, “The Retrograde,” is set to start publishing Sept. 30 online once every two weeks. It will pursue a 501c3 tax-exempt status, legally independent of the university.
The situation in Dallas raises broader questions about student media’s independence, a challenge student journalists face nationwide.
UTD’s Student Media Operating Board fired former EIC Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez over three alleged violations of the bylaws.
These allegations included holding another student employee role, overrunning the print budget and excluding the adviser from the newspaper business.
“We do not believe he was given due process,” Shaikh said, noting the board terminated Olivares Gutierrez without formally determining if he violated the bylaws. “We saw insufficient proof.”
Olivares Gutierrez disputed the claims in his memo, citing vague bylaws, the newspaper’s lack of access to an updated budget and the importance of editorial independence.
“We aren’t too hopeful about the university actually choosing to change its decision in our view,” Olivares Gutierrez told The Nutgraf after filing an appeal.
The student journalists described the firing as part of “retaliatory actions” after they covered the Gaza encampment crackdown in May.
Alleged retaliation included the demotion of their former adviser, restrictions on conference travel and changes to payment structures, according to them.
The university also sent the newspaper an $8,000 invoice for a public records request relating to the crackdown students filed after the crackdown.
Jonathan Gaston-Falk, a staff attorney at the Student Press Law Center, said while students are trying to connect the dots, he wasn’t sure if “there’s that clear connection.”
However, he said the SPLC saw an uptick in legal calls for help from student journalists, alleging retaliation from their administrations after the protest coverage.
UTD Director of Student Media Lydia Lum, who brought the allegations, referred a request for comments to Katherine Morales, associate vice president for media relations who didn’t respond.
In her memo, Lum outlined her efforts to mediate with Olivares Gutierrez but concluded further intervention wouldn’t change his performance.
“I believe it’s unlikely he will accept me as Mercury adviser given his counterproductive decisions and frequent adversarial remarks in my presence,” Lum wrote.
After the strike began, Lum wrote in an email to student journalists, requesting them to turn over all passwords to The Mercury’s accounts as they are “considered the property of the university.” As of Friday, The Mercury’s website has been taken down.
She also wrote there would be a special meeting for striking staffers to evaluate their “continued participation” and “their eligibility for the privileges associated with” their positions.
The strike has garnered support from the faculty senate, student government and more than 1,200 UTD community members who signed the newspaper’s statement.
Here are the memos from Lum and Olivares Gutierrez and the 26-page appeal.
⛔ Student media not truly independent
At UTD, student media leaders have “final authority” over content, but the bylaws give the student media director oversight of material programming, business and operating procedures, with a requirement to attend staff meetings and training.
A University of Florida study found student journalists’ autonomy is often threatened by university involvement. Here are some key findings:
58.8% of student outlets are advised by a faculty or staff member on the university’s payroll.
Advisers can influence editorial decisions and face potential retaliation from their higher-ups.
The study’s lead researcher: “Having to play that political role as both a colleague and an ethical adviser … is a really problematic system.”
Olivares Gutierrez said student newspaper independence is critical and called prior content reviews “a blatant attack” on student journalism.
“A university that doesn’t give its students the resources necessary to act independently while still doing good ethical journalism is a university that doesn’t appreciate having journalism there,” he said.
Because UTD is a public university, SPLC’s Gaston-Falk said cases in the legal landscape suggest students at the collegiate level should be dictating their content and business.
“It’s ironic that (Olivares Gutierrez) was, indeed, appointed, yet, it seems like the administration is having a hard time now with corralling that leadership that was appointed,” Gaston-Falk said.
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🎥 Extra! Extra!
We had our first webinar last Wednesday about how college journalism prepared young journalists for their post-grad life. Thank you everyone for showing up and the panelists for speaking! You can watch the recording below:
🗳️ ‘Campus to Campaign’ Panel Next Month:
The Nutgraf is hosting another webinar about how student journalists are contributing to the 2024 election coverage next month. The panel features leaders from OU Daily, The Daily Lobo and The Loyolan.
Read more about different reporting initiatives and RSVP now!
📅: Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024 at 3 p.m. ET
Story Spotlight:
📰 The Daily Collegian at Pennsylvania State University reported just last week that its newspapers and racks were removed from campus due to concerns about political ads.
🌎 Before The Daily Tar Heel at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill released its DEI edition, detailing how a DEI ban has affected the community, the EIC acknowledged the paper has had “a terrible track record” with coverage of students of color. She highlighted a new DEI approach this year.
🏈 Rocky Mountain Collegian and CU Independent, student newspapers at two Colorado universities, teamed up to produce a 40-page print newspaper to commemorate their longstanding football rivalry and “bridge the gap across the state in student journalism.”
⚖️ The Dartmouth’s former office manager was sentenced to 15 months in prison and three years of supervised release for stealing more than $223,000 from the New Hampshire student newspaper.
🗎 The Brown & White used court records to report on details of transcript fraud allegations against four Lehigh University students.
🕵️ Following protest crackdowns, the Washington Square News looked into 180-plus disciplinary cases against pro-Palestinian students and faculty at NYU and found a persistent pattern of sanctions. Check out The Vanderbilt Hustler for more on the aftermath of pro-Palestine protests.
Featured Opportunities:
NBCU Academy is hosting “The AI Generation: A Student Innovation Summit” Sept. 25.
The American Press Institute is hosting a webinar with AP journalists on what happens on election night Sept. 26.
PA Media Group is seeking a content fellow to work and pursue a master’s degree from Syracuse University. Apply before Oct. 1.
The Minnesota Star Tribune is hosting a virtual internship/career job fair Oct. 2.
Apply to the Washington Post summer internship program by Oct. 4.
The Solutions Journalism Network needs applications for its HEAL fellowship that covers youth mental health before Oct. 8.
Chicago Headline Club is hosting the Chicago Media Fair Oct. 11.
TED is hiring a science editorial intern and an editorial podcast intern.
Bloomberg is seeking interns for its 2025 winter and summer news internships.