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SPECIAL REPORT: Newspaper Adviser Resists Prior Review

By Daarel Burnette II
Black College Wire

The administration of Tennessee State University, a historically black institution in Nashville, has pressed the adviser to the student newspaper The Meter to review it before publication.

The adviser, Pamela E. Foster, has repeatedly refused, saying that is not the adviser�s role. The most recent request from Maurice Odine, who heads the university's communications department, attached a form for students to sign acknowledging that their work was reviewed. Foster talks about her view of the adviser's role and why she refuses to review the paper before it is published.

Q. Why do you refuse to review the paper?

Pamela E. Foster says prior review is "wrong educationally."

Pamela Foster: There are three primary reasons why prior review is a terrible idea. It�s ethically wrong. College Media Advisers, an organization which I belong to, has a very explicit clause in its code of ethics that explains why we shouldn�t do it.

[That code says:

["Faculty, staff and other non-students who assume advisory roles with student media must remain aware of their obligation to defend and teach without censoring, editing, directing or producing. It should not be the media adviser's role to modify student writing or broadcasts, for it robs student journalists of educational opportunity and could severely damage their rights to free expression."]

I�d like to see them become responsible human beings. This practice will serve them well no matter where they go. They need to become responsible human beings.

It�s wrong educationally. Students do not learn to be responsible if someone comes behind them to do the work for them. The reason why I�m at a university is I want to see the students learn, allow them to go out and be wonderful journalists. Plus, there are legal reasons why it�s inappropriate.

Q. What do you think Odine�s initial goal was? Do you think that the director only wanted you to prevent some of the grammatical mistakes in the paper?

Foster: I don�t think you should ever put the word "only" in front of it. We can�t minimize the fact that they asked me to review student work. This is a very serious issue, for the administration to correct student�s work. It�s not an insignificant mission.

Q. What do you think the role of the adviser is?

Foster: The role of the adviser is to teach everything he or she knows about excellent journalism. We teach the students to do everything great journalism does, which is not "do it for them." We only teach them to do it. Orally, we can explain why something is done, why it�s done, or give them a written comment.

Q. What do you mean by that?

Foster: Sometimes, I�ll write comments on things in advance at the student�s request. I�ll show students award-winning work from other colleges. I teach in all of the ways teaching is possible. I�ll teach excellent journalism habits. But I never edit. I do give extensive comment on anything they ask me to comment on. For example, if they have a problem on how to use commas, I�ll give them a lesson using commas so they can apply that knowledge on a particular story. But the university needs to understand that advisers are not editors, ever.

Q. Has the student newspaper had a history of grammatical and punctuational errors in the paper?

Foster: Of course. They�ve had some papers where they made ridiculous errors, misspelling people�s names on the front page. Once, the headline and byline were reprinted as if they were the lead of the story. But the feedback they�ve gotten from those mistakes is a big part of them being more responsible for their work, and hopefully they�ll learn from that.

Q. What do you enjoy about being the adviser of the paper?

Foster: I can learn from the students and we just do some wonderful things with the paper. Recently, our cartoonist just told me that he was a finalist for a collegiate press award. When I see them execute, and do good work, that makes it all worth it.

Daarel Burnette II is a student at Hampton University.

Posted Oct. 11, 2004