Dear Student Fee Advisory Committee
Members:
Greetings. I am a UT-Tyler alumnus
and publisher of an independent weekly newsletter for students called Patriot Weekly. I am not
affiliated with the University.
I
am writing to share with you the editorial I wrote this week in which I called for the Student Fee Advisory Committee
to tie Talon Student Media's funding to its coverage of essential student issues. In my article, I complain that Patriot Talon, the student-funded
student newspaper, was M.I.A. this year in its news coverage of important student
body activity, such as the athletics fee referendum, the student body president
election and other important news.
I write that if Patriot Talon wishes to dedicate itself to its industry-specific
disciplines, such as to feature writing and storytelling, then it can do so without
Student Services Fee (SSF) funding, just as other industry-specific organizations
at UT-Tyler do, such as The American Society of Mechanical Engineers and The National Student
Nurses Association. It can do so as a registered student organization.
But to receive over $95,000 of
student services fee funding each year requires more than devotion to
storytelling and media artwork. It requires the publication to return value to
the fee-paying student body in the form of vital news reporting, something
which Patriot Talon mostly did not do
this year. Talon Student Media’s storytelling and journalistic artwork alone
does not warrant SSF funding.
Therefore,
I write that you please make reporting of essential student interests a
condition of Talon Student Media's SSF funding. Talon Media should either accept the responsibility to
report on important student events to the student body politic or it should
lose its SSF funding.
Before
I write further, a disclaimer. You should know that some may say I have a
conflict of interest in my critique of the outlet’s funding since I have my own
publication. These may say I am a competitor. I
am also a former Patriot Talon
opinion writer who left the publication in 2016 after a conflict with leadership
over the publication’s vision. While I deny nefarious motives in my critique, I
think it is important for you to be aware of my relationship to Patriot Talon while I call for losses to
its funding.
Now, to apply the recommended policy
above, I recommend that you advise Patriot
Talon of your expectations and assign it with the responsibility to cover vital
student issues. I recommend that you start with the measurable and tangible
subject of student government, most importantly, with student government
elections. I suggest you start with reporting
on these two domains—student government, and student elections most importantly—as
a baseline for Patriot Talon’s
appropriation funding.
If
you wish, I can develop this idea further with a list of expectations for what I
would consider basic coverage of student body issues. For example, I would recommend the Committee expect from Patriot Talon nothing less than at least
one straight news article of student government activity per month, a report of
any upcoming student government elections, another article near election week
and a final report of the election results. The Committee should consider these
behaviors to amount to bare minimum coverage of student government activity. The
Committee could look to UT-Arlington's student newspaper, The
Shorthorn, for examples of adequate student government news coverage.
In
the meantime, I recommend the committee consider a minor fee reduction to Talon
Student Media's appropriation as a sanction, which the organization could
recover at next year's SFAC meeting, or in a possible mid-year, one-time
appropriation opportunity for the spring semester. A mid-year, one-time appropriation to recover the reduction
should be available only after Patriot
Talon has improved its performance to attain the above expectations. The
Committee’s accountability could look something like this in practice.
If the Committee has already voted
on Talon Student Media’s appropriation request for next year, then I recommend
that a willing committee member make a Motion To Reconsider the
Committee’s next year expectations for the publication. (“I move to reconsider
the Talon Student Media’s appropriation request” should be a sufficient motion to
bring the topic back up for consideration.)
If the Committee has not yet voted
on the Talon’s appropriation request, then a simple motion to open discussion
on the above comments will do to discuss the proposed measures above. (“I move
to discuss the Talon Student Media’s appropriation request.”)
Finally, a committee member must
ultimately move to apply the above changes to the Talon’s appropriation
approval. (“I move to require Talon Student Media publish news coverage of student
government elections and of student government activity as a condition for its
appropriation request’s approval.”)
Then the committee will have to
agree on measurable requirements to place upon the Talon for future SSF
funding, such as those I suggested above. So, a willing member must then say, “I
move that the Committee require Talon Student Media to agree to produce one
report on student activity per month, one report on any upcoming student
government elections and [etc.] as condition of [X] dollars of student services
fee funds in its appropriation request.” Hopefully, this helps you get the idea
of the necessary steps the Committee must take to enact this policy.
Overall, I hope the Committee will
see the vital need for news reporting to the student body and will hold Patriot Talon and the rest of Talon
Student Media to this news reporting as a condition of its Student Services Fee
appropriation.
Thank you for reading my message.
Sincerely,
James Hescock
Publisher, Patriot Weekly
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