Nlnews.org: Fighting for the values of honesty, fairness and the free pursuit of truth in journalism, at North Central University (NCU) and beyond (formerly representing North Central's student newspaper, the Northern Light)

Fighting for the values of honesty, fairness and the free pursuit of truth
in journalism, at North Central University and beyond

Northern Light editors dismissed after refusing to allow admin censorship

Editors were told they would face disciplinary action unless they agreed to let administration remove anything in the newspaper that would "shed North Central in a negative light"

By Chuck Bahr, former News Editor

The editorial staff of The Northern Light chose Tuesday, April 4, to stop producing the newspaper rather than give in to demands for censorship by university administration.

Administration responded by dismissing the editor-in-chief and news editor from their positions, effective Thursday, April 6.

On Tuesday, April 4, the Northern Light’s seven-member editorial staff met to discuss the future of the newspaper in light of demands by administration for censorship of the entire newspaper, opinion section included, so that nothing that “sheds North Central in a negative light” would be printed.

The editorial staff decided unanimously that to continue publishing the newspaper according to administration’s demands would violate the biblically based moral standards they held.

After threatening the editor-in-chief’s position over e-mail if she did not give in, administration moved quickly to take disciplinary action against the editors. Editor-in-Chief Hope Bahr and News Editor Chuck Bahr were informed of their dismissal during a noon meeting Thursday, April 6. Newspaper adviser and journalism professor Reuben David and Communications Department Chair Leslie Crabtree signed the letters of dismissal. Vice President of Academic Affairs Tom Burkman also attended the meeting to represent administration.

Editors believe at least three other members of the editorial staff will be dismissed or asked to step down within the next week.

Administration promised at the meeting that the students’ scholarships and class credit would not be revoked.

Five of the seven members of the newspaper’s editorial staff signed a petition to administration stating the staff’s reasons for their decision to shut down and begging administration to reconsider their decision.

“We recognize the university’s legal right to censor the newspaper,” the petition reads, “but we believe it is morally wrong for it to do so. We also believe it is morally wrong for administration to disrespect our Scripturally based moral convictions by forcing us to either violate them or face disciplinary action.”

Besides threatening student editors with disciplinary action should they not give in to the demands, administration also threatened the job of a faculty spokesperson working as a mediator between the two sides.

In an e-mail to the editor-in-chief, the spokesperson stated, “I have to be blunt here—my job has been threatened. I have been told that if ANYTHING [emphasis as originally written] that sheds North Central in a negative light appears in the N[orthern] L[ight] for the rest of this year, I have been told that I will be brought before the Executive Committee of the Board of Regents.”

Although demands for censorship are nothing new to Northern Light staff from the past four years, the issue escalated following the publication of a commentary questioning the Assemblies of God doctrine of tongues in the Feb. 28 issue of The Northern Light. The commentary, headlined “Tongues Doctrine Alienates Many,” offended some donors as well as AG leadership in Springfield, Mo., administration said. That commentary, combined with coverage of GLBT-activist group Soulforce’s planned protest of North Central, pushed administration to demand levels of censorship that Northern Light editors felt would be unethical to agree to.

Administration issued an ultimatum on Monday, April 3, listing two non-negotiable terms for censorship and giving the editorial staff until 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 4, to come to a decision.

The first term was that the Northern Light adviser and the communications department chair must read all content in every issue of the newspaper, with the freedom to edit anything they feel uncomfortable with, including opinion articles.

The second term was that should the adviser and department chair feel uncomfortable with any article for any reason, that article would be passed to a member of administration, who would have ultimate editorial control.

The terms added that administration would try not to have anyone who was a primary source for the article be the one pre-reading and editing it. However, administrators made no guarantees.

The Northern Light editorial staff felt that giving editorial control to any administrator would be a conflict of interest and a breach of reporter objectivity, whether or not it was the administrator quoted in the article. The editorial staff felt the university should utilize the newspaper adviser to act as an objective representative for both sides.

Administrators also demanded that the Northern Light’s web site, www.nlnews.org, be shut down immediately as of Friday, March 31. They claimed the site poses a financial and public relations risk to the university, since many people, such as donors, would not read the newspaper if it were not online.

Administration told The Northern Light that it was breaking the law by printing material online from a university-owned publication without the university’s consent. When consulting with a media law attorney, however, Northern Light editors were told they were within their legal rights when republishing works they had authored.

According to the attorney, copyright law sides with the author of a work, not the publisher, except in the case of an employee or work-for-hire agreement, neither of which applies to student journalists. Provided the web site clearly states that it is not an official publication of the university, republication of work authored by student journalists is completely legal.

After the editorial staff forwarded the legal precedents to administration, the school dropped its demand for the web site to be abolished.

On April 6, administration took a different tactic, saying they will threaten any student with disciplinary action should that student exercise his or her right to reprint articles.

Private universities have the right to discipline students even if that student is acting within his or her legal rights, according to an attorney with the Student Press Law Center.

Administration stated they are currently recruiting an interim newspaper staff to replace editors who have been dismissed. They said the newspaper will come out with another issue this semester.

It is unclear who is being considered as replacement candidates. In an April 7 e-mail to remaining staff members, adviser Reuben David stated, "We hope to continue publishing the newspaper with the rest of the staff."

The Northern Light editorial staff believes it is immoral for the school to seek to forcibly censor the campus newspaper, especially when done under threat of disciplinary action if students do not go against their moral principles. The staff is seeking to raise awareness of what it considers an injustice in hope that administration will recognize the error of their actions and protect free speech rather than stifle it.

The editorial staff encourages all people from every walk of life to submit a letter of response on this matter, whether you agree or disagree with the staff’s decision. Letters can be submitted to trickangle@hotmail.com and will be published on the web site. Please put the words "reader response" in the subject line of your e-mail. Before responding, however, the editorial staff urges you to read its letter to administration giving the reasons why the editors felt they had no choice but to stop publishing.

The editorial staff also encourages you to contact North Central administration to express your viewpoint on this matter. Contact information is provided below.

Please note: Letters to the editor will not be censored by North Central administration. Nlnews.org is a privately owned web site not affiliated with North Central University. North Central has no jurisdiction over its content.

Gordon Anderson, president
president@northcentral.edu
(612)343-4741

Tom Burkman, vice president of academic affairs
taburkma@northcentral.edu
(612)343-4748

Leslie Crabtree, communications department chair
lacrabtr@northcentral.edu
(612)343-4729

Reuben David, Northern Light adviser
rxdavid@northcentral.edu
(612)343-4727

Susan Detlefsen, director of media relations
sfdetlef@topaz1.northcentral.edu
(612)343-4153

Nate Ruch, executive director of university relations
nate@youthandleadership.com
(612)343-4760

Cheryl Book, vice president of business and finance
cabook@northcentral.edu
(612)343-4163

Paul Freitag, vice president of advancement
paul.freitag@northcentral.edu
(612)343-4455

Mike Nosser, vice president of student development
manosser@northcentral.edu
(612)343-4178