Media organization censures Western for past actions
College Media Advisers have censured Western for a case regarding former student media adviser. Western responds by saying claims are false.
Ashley Erb
Issue date: 1/28/09 Section: News
"The College Media Advisers board of directors has voted to censure Western Oregon University for its handling of the case of former newspaper adviser Susan Wickstrom," was the opening paragraph in an official letter from College Media Advisers (CMA) to Western President John Minahan on Jan. 12, 2009.
As stated on its Web site, CMA is an organization founded in 1954, and has since been helping "student media professionals improve their media operations." The site states that it is endorsed by professional college media associations and works with professional media organizations and education associations on the local, state and national levels.
"CMA sets the national standard for how a student newspaper should be run. Virtually every university in the country embraces its practices, particularly the notion that an independent student press is crucial for any progressive college campus," said Wickstrom via email.
Western President John Minahan, on the other hand, questions CMA's legitimacy, stating he is not clear as to who its members are or whether they are accredited.
"They don't seem to be very credible because they didn't really do an investigation. They simply took students and accusations and their word for it, and they quoted newspaper articles and all kinds of things, but they didn't really do their own independent work," he said. CMA President Kenneth Rosenaur did not respond to a request for comments about the details of the investigation or the censure.
According to CMA, the censure was the result of the university choosing not to rehire Wickstrom "after student staff of the 'Western Oregon Journal' in spring 2007 discovered Social Security numbers and other confidential information about former students in files on the university's public server. The student downloaded the information to a disk and, after consulting with Wickstrom, notified university administrators of the security breach." CMA also states that "the copy editor involved [Blair Loving] was nearly expelled."
As stated on its Web site, CMA is an organization founded in 1954, and has since been helping "student media professionals improve their media operations." The site states that it is endorsed by professional college media associations and works with professional media organizations and education associations on the local, state and national levels.
"CMA sets the national standard for how a student newspaper should be run. Virtually every university in the country embraces its practices, particularly the notion that an independent student press is crucial for any progressive college campus," said Wickstrom via email.
Western President John Minahan, on the other hand, questions CMA's legitimacy, stating he is not clear as to who its members are or whether they are accredited.
"They don't seem to be very credible because they didn't really do an investigation. They simply took students and accusations and their word for it, and they quoted newspaper articles and all kinds of things, but they didn't really do their own independent work," he said. CMA President Kenneth Rosenaur did not respond to a request for comments about the details of the investigation or the censure.
According to CMA, the censure was the result of the university choosing not to rehire Wickstrom "after student staff of the 'Western Oregon Journal' in spring 2007 discovered Social Security numbers and other confidential information about former students in files on the university's public server. The student downloaded the information to a disk and, after consulting with Wickstrom, notified university administrators of the security breach." CMA also states that "the copy editor involved [Blair Loving] was nearly expelled."
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