On Feb. 10 The Battalion, Texas A&M University College Station’s student-operated newspaper, was informed that it would no longer be allowed to produce print editions effective immediately. The decision was made by A&M President Katherine Banks who did not consult with student leadership or faculty advisers at The Battalion before making the decision to create an online only newspaper.
The newspaper was to also be shifted under a new journalism department. The Battalion is a student organization exclusively funded on money raised through advertising, not by the university. Banks has said the university would fund student wages moving forward because of the lack of advertising revenue. This raises too many questions as to why President Banks wants The Battalion, which has a 129-year history, to cease publishing if it costs the university no money.
After the outpouring of support The Battalion received, a committee is now in place to help chart The Battalion’s path and the new journalism department, which is as it should be. Forcing these demands on The Battalion is a violation of the First Amendment and should not be tolerated.
As student journalists at a university within the A&M system, this is concerning behavior. If the largest school in the A&M System and the largest school in the state of Texas can bar a student-operated organization from producing newspapers, any university can. Our university can. A&M College Station is muzzling students whose role it is to keep the university accountable. We will not stand and watch as fellow student journalists are silenced. We are angry.
Print media may feel like a dying art in an age in which the internet and current generations are consumed by virtual content, but print media is not dead. The role of journalists is needed now more than ever. When questioned, President Banks admitted to not knowing why printing as a journalist is important, indicating she does not have the knowledge to make decisions for The Battalion. This was not a bid to help students. This was an act of politics and an attack on student journalists.
The Battalion, we as student journalist stand with you in this fight.
