The Associated Collegiate Press stands with the staff of The North Wind at Northern Michigan University, whose editor says they were blindsided by the dismissal of adviser Cheryl Reed on April 3.
The North Wind Board of Directors voted 5-3 to dismiss Reed, an assistant professor of English, from her position as adviser to the student-directed news organization. She retains her teaching position. In addition, the board voted 5-4 not to elevate current managing editor Michael Williams to editor-in-chief. He was the sole candidate for the job.
ACP calls for the reinstatement of Reed and reconsideration of Williams.
“The leadership of student-directed news organizations and advisers establish a professional rapport that should never be interfered with,†said ACP Executive Director Diana Mitsu Klos. “The Northern Michigan University community has been ill-served by the embarrassing actions of the board.â€
Editor-in-Chief Emma Finkbeiner stood by statements she made earlier this week:
“The actions of the board absolutely feels like retaliation against the current staff and adviser for the way the paper has been reporting this year,†Finkbeiner said. “Many of the board members have no exposure to how the news business works and the standards we uphold. They can’t let go of the fact that The North Wind is not a university press release recycling entity. They are trying to run us all out and build their own version of what they want the paper to be. This is a massive blow to First Amendment rights on NMU’s campus.
“It makes absolutely no sense for the person currently holding the position to not be involved in the interview for their replacement,†Finkbeiner said. “I also think it makes no sense to discuss the adviser’s job status without the editor. I work most closely with her and would have had a lot of valuable feedback and insight for that discussion. I think the board thinks that Cheryl is directing us to do all of this investigative reporting and that is entirely untrue. We are a student-run newspaper. Cheryl can offer advice but we can turn it down at any time. The way we’ve run the paper this year has been student directed and Cheryl has been there to support us when the administration is unhappy about our stories.â€
Reed, who became The North Wind’s adviser in the fall of 2014, is a former editorial page editor, columnist, book critic and investigative reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times and previously a staff writer at several others newspapers. Her work has earned honors that include Harvard University’s Goldsmith Prize and the Investigative Reporters and Editors award for investigative reporting.
In the first three months of 2015, The North Wind has won four ACP awards, more than the publication has won in any full 12-month period since 2006. The publication took home Best of Show awards (multimedia package, sports story and news photograph) from the Best of the Midwest convention in Minneapolis, Feb. 6-8, and one award (multimedia package) at the National College Journalism Convention in Los Angeles, Feb. 26-March 1.
For more information:
Diana Mitsu Klos, ACP
diana@studentpress.org, 612-625-7359
The North Wind:
http://www.thenorthwindonline.com
https://www.facebook.com/NMUNorthWind?ref=br_rs
@NorthWindNews
‪About the Associated Collegiate Press
ACP, home of the Pacemaker award, is the world’s largest and oldest national membership organization for college student journalists. Founded in 1921, ACP is steadfast in its mission to serve student media and advisers, introduce new ideas and reinforce best practices, reward excellence, embrace diversity, and provide ample networking and partnership opportunities. ACP’s members are student-directed online/digital news organizations, newspapers, yearbooks, magazines and broadcast programs. ACP endorses and advocates free expression rights for student media. ACP is a division of the National Scholastic Press Association, a 501 c-3 non-profit journalism education association based in Minneapolis.