Tori Lemon
Editor-in-Chief
After the disappearance of the Butler Lantern’s Issue 7 newspaper, thoughts regarding censorship and theft have floated around campus.
The missing newspaper never did turn up, and the Butler Lantern staff were left with more questions than answers regarding the situation. When dealing with newspapers disappearing, the word “censorship” comes into mind for some.
Newspaper censorship is referred to as the suppression of free speech by school administrative bodies of student-run news operations. Censorship is even a topic that has been fought in the Supreme Court for decades. Typically, when people think of censorship, they immediately imagine administration being at fault. In cases where it is students, coaches or other staff members stopping information from getting out, it causes a grey area.
“I personally think of “censorship” as coming from a person in a position of authority, so I’m not sure I would call it “censorship” when a student or just some guy on the street destroys papers, but it’s certainly an ignorant attempt to stop people from getting information, whatever we decide to call it,” Senior Legal Fellow Frank LoMonte said.
Under the circumstances of the missing newspapers, there were many Butler staff members who felt strongly that this was a form of censorship and something that should be addressed.
“I do see theft of newspapers as censorship,” Access and Instruction Librarian Ruth Harries said. “It’s important for members of any community to be able to form their own opinions about the news and how it’s reported, which is impossible if someone steals copies of the news source.”
Harries was a copy editor at The Sunflower, Wichita State’s student newspaper from 2006 to 2007, so the threat of censorship hit home for her.
“When I heard that newspapers were missing, I was immediately concerned that the campus community wouldn’t be able to read the paper,” Harries said. “As it turned out, there were a few copies still on the news rack inside the library, so I put one copy behind the library desk. That isn’t our normal practice, but because it initially wasn’t clear how many, if any, newspapers had survived, I wanted to make sure that at least one copy was available to read.”
Not only was the Butler community concerned, the Butler Lantern received letters of support from The Sunflower as well as from the Butler County Watchdog. Lee White, writer for the Watchdog, wrote an editorial on Wednesday, Feb. 7, titled “To The Butler Community College Football Team.” In his editorial, White expressed who he felt was to blame, as well as showing support for the Butler Lantern staff.
“I’ll get right to the point,” White wrote. “I’m here today to talk about the recent theft of the (Butler) Lantern from distribution boxes around campus.”
White goes on to say that if the paper would not have been stolen, the controversial story over former student athlete DeMario Burnett would not have made as big as an impact
“Your foolish actions have attracted far more attention to your friend’s arrest than if you would have just done the two jobs you were brought to my hometown to do: Go to class and make Butler look good,” White wrote.
In his editorial, White brought up several times in the Butler Lantern’s history where censorship was possible. He, and his wife, attended Butler. He discusses how both in the 1980s and 1990s, administration were unhappy with some of the stories that ran, and in turn, they sought out the newspaper advisor, in attempts to get them fired.
“Both times, professional journalists — some who had ties to the (Butler) Lantern and some who didn’t— joined forces to keep the student press free,” White said.
In recent news, many Kansas colleges have joined forces to help support WSU’s The Sunflower. In a closed meeting where reporters were not allowed in, the school’s Student Government Association (SGA) discussed cutting The Sunflower’s budget nearly in half- from $105,000 in 2017-2018 to $55,000 in 2019. Meeting in private, and barring reporters from entering, is a violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act. That violation and the proposed budget cut were of the main concerns for The Sunflower staff.
Many other universities and news publications have written editorials in support of, or reported on, what The Sunflower staff is enduring. These include The Wichita Eagle, Kansas State University and the Butler Lantern.
Censorship has many faces–from budget cuts to stolen newspapers- and it usually stems from “controversial” stories.
“If the facts are reported accurately, sometimes it’s impossible to write a news story without making some readers uncomfortable,” Harries said.“That uncomfortable reporting can turn out to be really important for all of us though.”
