After a recent fight with administrators, Zach Fox, the editor in chief of USC’s student newspaper, resigned suddenly from his position mid-semester.
And though we may have little in common with our crosstown rival, something we can all probably agree with is that such administrative control over the student press, no matter where, is unacceptable.
Fox, who had been democratically elected by his staff to serve another semester as the editor, was blocked as a candidate for final approval from the paper’s Media Board by USC’s vice president of student affairs.
The Media Board consists of school administrators, journalism professors and students, and is charged with approving the paper’s editor in chief. The staff of The Trojan votes on a candidate, and the approved candidate is traditionally sent to the board for final approval.
This is the first time a staff-endorsed editor has not been approved, and the board never even got the chance to discuss his application because administrators blocked it from the board’s agenda.
Administrators cited problems with Fox’s application as the reason for not forwarding him to the board, and the Daily Trojan reported students and other administrators were upset about the decision. So are we.
Fox wanted to change the way the Daily Trojan operates to give the managing editor more control of day-to-day production. This would give the editor in chief more time to pursue long-term projects and better reflect the structure of a professional paper.
Administrators didn’t like the plan because they thought it would take more time to implement than Fox had planned for. They rejected his application because he did not meet the current job description – which he wanted to change.
According to the Associated Press, Fox had been warned that the board and administrators wanted to vet the new plan before he implemented it, but this board thinks the administration should have nothing to do with the policies of its student newspaper.
When the administration failed to forward a staff-endorsed applicant for editor for final approval, they prevented the Media Board from even considering his application.
But that’s not the full story. The staff of The Trojan does not have access to its operating budget, and curious about the financial status of the newspaper, Fox had been requesting access to The Trojan’s budget all semester.
The administration refused to give the students access to their financial information, but administrators also said not forwarding Fox’s application had nothing to do with his repeated requests to see the paper’s budget.
The staff of The Trojan claims Fox’s application was blocked because of his persistent requests to see the budget, but regardless of the reason, this should not have happened.
USC has one of the best journalism schools in the country and the administration should be teaching its students about freedom of the press, not how to stifle and control the media.
Administrators should allow the students complete control of The Trojan, and take the high road in this matter. If the new job descriptions of the editor and managing editor cause problems, the staff should be able to learn for themselves, without big brother intervening.