For 122 years, The Bulletin has served Emporia State as the official student newspaper. We have been there for our audience during the first pandemic in 1918, through two world wars, through the turmoil of Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement, the election of the country’s first Black president and beyond. Now, we stand at another historic moment involving the mass firing of professors and the reorganization of the entire university.
Yet, we at the newspaper have been given no information as to what will happen to our publication. It’s been 110 days since you spoke to our reporters about anything. Will you tell us whether an independent student press will survive at ESU, or whether the campus newspaper will be turned over to marketing or farmed out to a third party? These are legitimate fears, as you have fired our student publication’s adviser of 16 years and have suspended the journalism program.
Your anger at the student press seems clear. You refused since Aug. 2 to grant in-person interviews, have failed to appoint members to the Student Media Board, and have questioned the need for a print publication at all. As the president of a state university, being hostile to the student press is unacceptable for many reasons, but I would like to address what your uncooperative and presumptuous behavior towards The Bulletin staff has done.
You and your administration ignore and belittle us; you make us feel like what we’re doing isn’t worthy of support, and you make us feel like an unvalued, unimportant part of the campus community. When you don’t like our coverage, your administrative team challenges our professionalism, attempts to make us ashamed to do our jobs, and even questions our facts – even when we quote you accurately, as we did after the August interview in which you said you “laugh” at criticism.
Journalism, a pillar of our democracy, exists to hold people in positions of power responsible for their words and actions. This is also known as ‘watchdog’ journalism. While you and your administration may view this as negative coverage, members of the campus and Emporia community might disagree. After being elected president in June 2022, neither the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) nor any ESU websites have released an official resume or CV for you. The reporting done by The Bulletin offers a glimpse into your life and who you are as a person and a leader. For most students, this may be all the information they know about you besides your name.
I am concerned not only for the independence of journalism at ESU, but what the next generation of collegiate journalists will have to endure. We are walking blindfolded into a future that may be only known to you.
You seem to believe student journalism should serve only as a booster for your administration. Yet, we would be doing a disservice to our audience if we didn’t ask the hard questions. Journalists serve the public, not the newsmakers, and that ultimately strengthens the university – and democracy. But in the end, the hardest question we have to ask is this:
What will become of us?
President Hush, I am urging the ESU community and all those who support local journalism to contact you and make their voices heard about the changes here and the lack of information about what will happen to the campus newspaper and the yearbook. I thank all of those who supported The Bulletin in the last year, even if it was just picking up a print copy from the racks on campus or reading us online.
The Bulletin staff will continue to vigorously defend our right to be a free and independent forum for student expression at Emporia State. As journalists, we love what we do and work hard to bring the best coverage to our audience. It has, frankly, been one heck of a tough year. But we would like to be around for the next 122 years, and not be eliminated or turned into a marketing tool for the university.
Thank you for your attention. We’re looking forward to some answers.
Sincerely,
Cameron Burnett
Editor-in-Chief
The Bulletin