Chico censors newspaper hazing story

[hoosier]

July 12, 2005 - 9:12:10 AM PST

Chico newspaper drops story after CSUC objects


AP

CHICO A local weekly newspaper blinked last week in a confrontation with Chico State University over a scathing article about the school's animal-house reputation.

The Chico News & Review yanked the article The Party Rules" when the university withdrew the paper's advertiser-heavy city guide from its student orientation packets. The paper replaced the article with a welcome address from the university president.

The article dropped from the guide, Goin' Chico," refers to several incidents including last year's alleged hazing death of a student and the filming of a frathouse porn video that have added to Chico's growing reputation as a notorious party school.

You've selected a school known more for its collective booze intake than for its contributions to academic achievement," the article crows. So have fun, kiddies ... and try not to die."

University officials argued that the article could damage the school's image, and promptly pulled the guide from its orientation packets, which are distributed to prospective students and their parents and contain information on city and college services.

But the newspaper had promised advertisers that the guide would be distributed in the orientation packets, said News & Review editor Tom Gascoyne.

So the newspaper and the school came to an agreement: replace the disputed article with a welcome address, and the issues would be returned to the packets.

We came to an agreement because we want to get these things distributed," Gascoyne said. We promised our advertisers that they were going out in the packets. We want to make good with that."

The article is still available in copies of the guide that aren't included in the orientation packets and on the News & Review's Web site.


Information from: Chico Enterprise-Record

[DeltAlum]

A sound business decision but a journalism cop out.

[Tom Earp]

A Weekly News Paper is the pot stirring Paper?

DeltAlum, not sure if one can call it a cop out.

It seems that they dispareging Like the Big Time Tabuloids or want to be's.

Maybe it is time for Chico to get Their Stuff together and not using Greeks as a Punching Bag as much as they may need it.

Sounds like a Major Meeting with All Greek Organizations for a sit down and say "This is Where it stops", In or Out. Clean it up.

It would do all Greeks Good!

[33girl]

Originally posted by DeltAlum
A sound business decision but a journalism cop out.

You've got to be kidding. They outright libel the school, they're called on it and that's a copout? I don't think so.

Although quite frankly, I don't know why the school would have any sort of association with a free newsweekly in the first place - if it's anything like ours, there are things in there that if I was a parent I would not want my 18 year old to see (like the zillion ads for phone sex lines).

Does Chico have a regular newspaper?

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by 33girl
You've got to be kidding. They outright libel the school, they're called on it and that's a copout? I don't think so.

Pretty tough to prove libel in any case. Harder still when the reputation is widespread -- and there have been numerous, highly publicized events that have already tarnished the school's reputation.

My point is simply that from a journalistic standpoint, most legitimate media would have stood behind their reportage and not caved into financial pressure from the subject of their story. That's why it's a copout.

They chose to kill their story and run a fluff piece from the subject of their original article.

As I said, a sound business decision -- but one very few journalists would make.

[33girl]

Originally posted by hoosier
You've selected a school known more for its collective booze intake than for its contributions to academic achievement," the article crows. So have fun, kiddies ... and try not to die."

That's not libelous??? Intimating that just attending the school puts them in danger?? At the very least, it should convince the school not to have anything to do with them ever again.

And again, this is a free newsweekly, not a regular daily newspaper. Yes I read them, but they're certainly not what I would call journalistically sound or unbiased.

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by 33girl
That's not libelous???

"The article dropped from the guide, Goin' Chico," refers to several incidents including last year's alleged hazing death of a student and the filming of a frathouse porn video that have added to Chico's growing reputation as a notorious party school."

Which part of that or what you quoted is wrong?

Need the GC lawyers here, but I think to win a libel case the school would have to prove that what was reported was wrong, that the paper knew it was wrong and reported it anyway and that they intended to damage the school and/or its reputation.

Again, given the recent history, I don't think that case would be won.

I will add, though, that the topic of the thread is wrong. Chico didn't, and can't, censor this newspaper. What they did was use their economic clout in the town to force the paper not to run the article. That's not censorship.

[33girl]

Originally posted by DeltAlum
[Which part of that or what you quoted is wrong?

Umm, I would say that telling prospective students "try not to die" is pretty well over the line.

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by 33girl
Umm, I would say that telling prospective students "try not to die" is pretty well over the line.

But it's not libel as I understand it. They aren't accusing the university of killing students. In fact, at least one student died in the "alleged" hazing incident.

Besides, I'm not defending the newspaper, but rather saying that they were willing to give up their "journalistic" integrity -- whatever amount they may have, if any -- for financial reasons.

That's the reason that in some large news organizations, sales people aren't even allowed in the newsroom.

[AlphaPhiBubbles]

First of all....thanks Tom Earp...we already had many of those kinds of meetings where the greeks say "ok this is it". Hehe. But thanks for pointing out the obvious.

I am glad this turned out the way it has, and find it pretty ironic the way some of the chico locals view Chico state and it's students. Without the university, Chico would just be another small cowtown on the map, blending in with all the other cowtowns nearby. But because of the school and all the people it brings in from all over the state (country, world...), the city makes more money and has a more diverse population then it ever would. It allows Chico to have the thriving and often cultural downtown that it does, and provide much assistance to the more "needy" of the Chico folk (children, elderly, disabled, etc...) because of programs the school funds and the student volunteers it provides.

But they don't stop to think about it. Those people working at CN&R might not even have those jobs. I doubt that paper would exist without the university. And i know what many of you are thinking... "well the city would be fine without a greek system"... and that may be true but I like to think that we help the community a lot more than we are hurting it, even with all the events as of late. We volunteer and donate and fundraise most of the time... if anything during the year the parties (which are not ONLY thrown by greeks) can be a nuisance, and the bad publicity is also just that - a nuisance. Why does Chico care what the world thinks of its little town anyway? What is the bad publicity stopping them from getting? I don't know. I just wish they would stop to think about those things before they want to scare the already nervous freshman coming to their FINE city.

[DeltAlum]

FYI...

"That all changed in 1964 when the Supreme Court issued a ruling that revolutionized libel law in the United States. The famous decision in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan once and for all created a national rule that squared more fully with the free press guarantees of the First Amendment. In its ruling, the Court decided that public officials no longer could sue successfully for libel unless reporters or editors were guilty of "actual malice" when publishing false statements about them.

And just what is malice when it comes to proving libel? Retired Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. (a Delt, BTW), who wrote the Sullivan decision, defined it as "knowledge that the [published information] was false" or that it was published "with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not." In other words, public officials no longer could sue for libel simply by proving that something that had been broadcast or printed about them was false. Now they would have to prove that a journalist had knowingly printed false information while making little, if any, attempt to distinguish truth from lies."

The rest of the article can be found here:

http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/press/press08.htm

Another thing that I think I remember from my days in the newsrooms is that only a person can be libeled, not an institution such as a university. I may be wrong about that.

[kddani]

Yep, DeltAlum, you have the right standard and definition of libel. There was nothing said that was libelous. "Try not to die" is not a defamatory statement. It would be VERY VERY hard case to prove in court. Some people may think it's in very poor taste, but they have every right to say it.

This wouldn't be the first time a newspaper copped out of something in interest of their business.

[mmcat]

chico seems to have a major public relations problem as well as internal issues that are bigger than an ad supplement.

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by kddani
This wouldn't be the first time a newspaper copped out of something in interest of their business.

Sad, but true.

I've heard of a number of cases, mostly having to do with automobile dealers who are big advertisers, trying to get stories about problems with their cars or their service or other practices, going to sales departments at newspapers, radio or TV stations and trying (sometimes successfully, but not often, thankfully) and trying to get a story dropped or changed.

That's why my comment above about sales people not being allowed (literally) in the newsroom in some places.

[LittleGirl]

When I was at Chico, the paper mentioned, Chico News & Review had more readers than the daily paper, Chico Enterprise Record.

Chico has ALWAYS had a problem with the party image. Appearing in the #1 and #2 spots on Playboy's 1987 and 2002 "Party School List" certainly does not help matters.

Also, there was a lot of bad press after the Pioneer Days and Rancho Chico Days riots.

Chico is a small town in the middle of farming country. If it wasn't for the school, there wouldn't be much to that town. It has great college town atmosphere.

The Dean's hard line on the greek system since Matthew Carrington's death. Though other schools have had deaths and major hazing issues before, this is fairly new to Chico State.

Perception about partying at the school (well, and the actual partying) have long been an issue at the school. The events of last year give Zingg, the dean, a group to focus on. (I absolutely agree with the steps he is taking. I thought hazing was bad when I was at Chico but, no one lost their life)

I am surprised how much discussion occurs on this board about a small CA state school with a small greek system.