The landing in front of the south-side entrance to Allen Hall, home of the journalism school, features a number of distribution boxes for many disparate publications, ranging from The Eugene Weekly to the Oregon Peaceworker. The Emerald, however, is the only student publication given this prime distribution real estate.
Although there are a number of student publications at the University, including The Oregon Commentator, the Oregon Voice, The Student Insurgent and the upstart KD Magazine, a student will not find them anywhere near the entrance of the journalism school.
If there is one building on campus that should prominently display the work of this campus’s talented student journalists, it is Allen Hall.
Bryan Roberts, former publisher of The Commentator, interfaced with the journalism department during the last academic year and attempted to persuade faculty members to allow space for an outdoor distribution box or indoor distribution rack. The Commentator was not allowed to distribute inside or outside of Allen Hall because of safety concerns – the distribution boxes would get in the way of students coming and going from class.
“They made pains not to state that they have policies that disallow publications, aside from the Emerald, to distribute outside,” said Roberts, who feels as if the journalism school is making transparent equivocations.
The Commentator was not alone; the Oregon Voice received the same excuses from the journalism school. In both instances, the journalism school claimed that its reasoning was predicated on student safety.
“It was too congested before (when there were more distribution boxes),” said Tim Gleason, Dean of the journalism school. “There are fire codes and safety problems, and this is an issue that faces the journalism school.” Gleason stated that one of the journalism school’s goals is to maximize distribution of all campus media.
Nonetheless, the Oregon Peaceworker still has a distribution box in front of the journalism school, despite the publication’s apparent non-existent printing schedule.
The reasoning behind these publications’ desire to distribute within the journalism school is obvious: Allen Hall presents an optimal distribution area, as it gives publications access to the students most likely to read their issues or who want to work for their publications.
Perhaps the journalism school is learning this. “If this is a problem, then this is something we could look into,” said Gleason. The journalism school should give all publications equal access to Allen Hall, as these publications represent the full spectrum of journalistic styles and opinions. At this time, the journalism school will only distribute issues of alternative campus media in its Duniway Resource Center. The Duniway Center, located on the ground floor of Allen Hall, is not an optimal position for the distribution of issues; most students grab publications from distribution boxes on their way to class.
The journalism school claims national recognition as a qualifier for its supposed greatness. But the way it interacts with student journalists – whether they are journalism students or not – can either support or alienate students, the people who inevitably give the school its status. Sara Brickner – the Editor in chief of the Oregon Voice, and a person who received the same treatment as Roberts – is a journalism student who feels alienated.
“I have the feeling that the journalism school has been very unsupportive,” Brickner said. Student journalists toiling away in small, cramped offices with staffs of volunteers deserve no less respect than their counterparts at the Emerald, even if the Emerald has a daily printing schedule. Giving preference to the Emerald – which Gleason admits – alienates student journalists in the magazine focus who do not want to work for a daily publication. Further, these journalists work hard on their magazines, and it seems understandable that they would want to share them with the people who may find the greatest value in them. If there is an amenable solution, and the journalism school can enact a new policy that would ensure the visibility of all student publications, then the journalism school should push this policy forward quickly. The journalism school produces great journalists, some of whom never work for the Emerald. The journalism school should ensure that journalists with alternative views receive visibility where its most valuable: within Allen Hall.