ASUO held a joint hearing Tuesday afternoon to discuss the potential merger between Emerald Media Group and Ethos Magazine. ASUO Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee chair Andrew Dunn and Program Finance Committee chair Quinn Haaga called the hearing.
Potential goals of the merger include an increase in Ethos’ budget and more access to professional advisers. Both publications would maintain editorial independence. Jonathan Bach, Editor in Chief of Ethos Magazine, said the staff members who receive stipends at the publication support the merger.
“Those at the top feel that this is in the best interest for Ethos,” Bach said.
One proposal, made by Dunn, would allow the School of Journalism and Communication to oversee Ethos.
“It seems though … that the j-school could retain the stability more than the professional staff could,” he said.
For Dunn’s proposal to be approved, it would need to go through the Department of Student Life. But Bach wants Ethos to maintain its editorial independence from the university, like Emerald Media Group.
“It was a productive meeting … a lot of ground work has been set,” said Charlie Weaver, the president and publisher at Emerald Media Group. According to Weaver, the meeting was originally scheduled to take place last year when 2014-2015 Editor in Chief of Ethos, Gordon Friedman, approached Emerald Media group about a merger; there wasn’t enough time to propose changes.
Shawn Stevenson, finance director of ASUO Executive, said he didn’t support the merger because he is not comfortable with Emerald Media Group receiving a portion of Ethos’s ad sales revenue as a condition.
While the two committees did not reach a decision, conversations about the merger will continue for the next few weeks. Dunn asked Emerald Media Group to provide the dollar amount they would need for the merger. Ethos has already submitted its budget proposal to the ASUO in the event that the merger is denied.
Weaver said there is no official deadline for when the committees must make their decisions regarding the merger, but it is likely that a final decision will be reached by the deadline for each committee’s proposal to senate.
ASUO holds meeting to discuss potential Emerald Media Group and Ethos merger
Grace Sullivan
November 9, 2015
Andrew Seng
Oregon students arrive in full force to protest comments made by ASUO senator Alex Titus on allegations of racism during the ASUO Senate meeting on April 9, 2014. (Andrew Seng/Emerald)
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