Debate: how can higher education media stay independent?

Why are university news outlets such as DUB so important and why do they need to be independent? A panel comprised of five journalists discussed this topic in Utrecht, in an event attended by people working for higher education media, editorial board members, and freelancers.

The panel members were invited by the Journalist Union (NVJ) and the Association for Science Journalism (VWN). Both organisations have identified a “worrying trend”: they are sounding the alarm following a series of incidents in which the freedom of the press has come under pressure in higher education institutions.

Watchdog
Social scientist Linda Duits, who has written columns for Folia, the news outlet at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), kicked things off. She said that universities are big, powerful institutions which used to be kept in check by faculty and university councils, as well as by independent news outlets. “But that’s all crumbling down”, she asserted. “Journalism must serve as a watchdog, but you can only be a watchdog if you’re not being paid by your master. If you are, you won’t bite.” She says it’s an “unhealthy, dictatorial construction”.

There are countless examples of this complicated relationship. Last year, Cursor, the news outlet of the Eindhoven University of Technology, was forced to black out its website when the publication of an article about the rector’s conflict of interests was prevented and the editor-in-chief was sidelined. This event even landed editor Bridget Spoor, one of the panel members, in a whistleblowing case.

Media outlets at universities of applied sciences have had to fight for their freedom too. In Rotterdam, the magazine Profielen was recently embedded into the communications department. "We would have preferred not to make this switch", stated its editor-in-chief (statement available in Dutch only, Ed.). Before that, an incident at HAN University of Applied Sciences, in Arnhem, made national headlines. An interim manager at the communications department was frustrated about a column on "bullshit jobs" and had his response placed above that column on the website. 

Less pessimistic 
“We’re paid by the university, so that’s something we have to deal with,” acknowledges Willem Andrée, editor-in-chief of Resource, the news outlet of Wageningen University. “You must be fortunate enough that the Executive Board understands the university needs a thorn in its side.” He believes this is the case in Wageningen.

Financial dependence isn't necessarily a problem, ponders DUB's editor-in-chief Ries Agterberg, who was in the audience. As long as things are properly arranged, independence can be guaranteed. “The government also funds public broadcasters (such as NOS in the Netherlands and BBC in the UK, for example, Ed.)."

In Agterberg's view, things are not that bad. “I am a little bit less pessimistic,” he said. If anything, great examples abound of science journalism made within higher education institutions. Take Delta, which demonstrated how the Delft University of Technology was inadvertently collaborating with the Chinese army, or VU Amsterdam's Ad Valvas, which discovered social safety issues at the Faculty of Psychology.

“I’m not entirely dissatisfied either”, agreed Saskia Bonger, Delta's editor-in-chief. “It’s difficult at times, but that’s also kind of fun.” In her opinion, they can’t complain about administrators sometimes dodging questions because "they all do that."

Reputation manager
But sometimes things do go wrong. Cursor's editor Bridget Spoor doesn’t feel like her outlet is independent. A triptych on social safety turned into a diptych because the third part was censored. As for the editorial board supposed to support Cursor, “its chairperson was the university's reputation manager”. Everyone in the room laughed.

The danger of self-censorship is always lurking, but higher education institutions are not the only place where that happens. One of the moderators, science journalist Ronald Veldhuizen, mentioned articles about farmers or motorcycle gangs. Journalists are tempted to be more cautious when writing about those topics.

Good statutes
What needs to be done to ensure the independence of university media outlets? Good statutes and expert editorial boards are one way to do it. It's okay for full professors to be on an editorial board, believed Mark Reid, from Leiden University's magazine Mare, as journalists would dare to push back when the board is difficult. To Linda Duits, things should be arranged by law. Administrators will always say they value independence, but one shouldn’t take such statements at face value.

Distribution matters too. These outlets used to be published in print and distributed across campus, but many are now exclusively online. Duits considers that a type of censorship  – especially if the news isn’t sent to students and staff (using a newsletter, for example).

Solidarity
Elmer Smaling, Editor at Erasmus Magazine, believes that editorial teams should show more solidarity towards each other: When Cursor blacked out its website, other higher education media could have done the same. "But we didn't manage to gather enough support for this.”

Paul Disco, Editor-in-Chief of HvanA, the magazine about the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, observed that higher education media would be better equipped to defend themselves if they joined forces. “Everything is insured at higher education institutions, except their reputations.” He’s been called to account before and doesn’t mind it much. But when freedom is truly at stake, he finds that media outlets could be quicker to join forces “so such a board would have a real problem."

University news outlets do have an association, however. It's called Editors-in-chief Circle and its goal is to defend the interests of higher education media. Willem Andrée, Editor-in-Chief at Resource, chairs the organisation, which sent a critical letter to the Eindhoven University of Technology when the conflict with the editorial team arose. 

Press officer
Other topics, ideas and insights were discussed too, but there was hardly any discord. There were no administrators in the room and only one press officer was present, whose main complaint was that journalists often copy his press releases word for word, despite signing them with their own names.

NVJ and VWN won’t let the issue rest. The union is investigating statutes and wants to support editorial teams in their independence. The Editors-in-chief Circle is also scrutinising statutes.