Gannet is one of the largest publishing companies in the country, owning nearly 100 daily newspapers including USA Today, as well as non-daily newspapers and 23 TV stations. They have some big plans. Their plans are strategically rooted in the “lucrative” world of student-run newspapers. In an article by Tom McGhee for the Denver Post, a newspaper industry analyst explained that student newspapers are very enticing to companies. “It has a captive audience — and a young audience — so it offers some advertising opportunities.”

Executives from a Gannett newspaper in Fort Collins, The Coloradoan, are in the process of meeting with officials from Colorado State University about partnering with their student publication, the Rocky Mountain Collegian. The student support for the partnership has been, as you can imagine, obsolete. The editor of the paper announced that he thought it was a takeover, and quite frankly I agree with him. A spokesperson from Gannet explains: “We look at any opportunity that comes along. This is just a discussion being held to see if anything could happen.” A big concern for the students at CSU is that they may lose their salary. Editor David McSwain says it best: “we’ll be volunteering for Big Media!” While his fears are valid, a Gannet spokesperson responds by saying that students will retain their current salary.

What’s at stake at the very core of this issue is what a student newspaper is and what the principles are surrounding it. The purpose of a student newspaper is not to create lucrative advertising potential and profits, it is to advertise just enough to sustain the publication. From my experience with the student daily publication at the University of Massachusetts, the paper represents a free flow of student ideas. There is no managing entity, other than the staff to monitor its production. An important point to think about is that student publications will no longer be student-run if they are edited by professionals.

Gannet currently owns two student newspapers in Florida. I would be curious to find out where they are at, eighteen months after the takeover. Looking through archived articles, it seems like the partnership was marketed as an “opportunity” for the student writers to network and learn from professionals. Comments from the University were mostly positive and optimistic, unlike our friends at CSU. This is an interesting and devastatingly scary step in the world of student journalism. If this takes place at CSU or any campus in the nation like it has in Florida, a unique student voice will be lost.