By JOURNALISM II
The student handbook states that the First Amendment protects people’s speech and their freedom to print their thoughts and disperse them without repercussion. But, private colleges and universities are not afforded the same guarantees under the First Amendment, unlike public universities.
This verbiage does not apply to private colleges and or universities, but there are protections spelled out in the student handbook that are not currently being reflected in the Chronicle’s ability to access administrators for interviews.
The public has a right to access government records under the Freedom of Information Law, according to Kristen O’Neill, assistant director of the Committee on Open Government. Saint Rose does not have this privilege because Saint Rose is a private college, and the law is built for public entities.
These editors have gone on to work in a multitude of capacities, and frequently accredit their journalism training to part of their successes in the news industry and beyond. Their interviews demonstrate how the shift in culture affects the learning environment for journalists and Chronicle writers at the college.
Jonas Miller:
“As a junior, I could contact any individual professor or official I wanted, set up and interview, and go and meet them. Then as a senior I started sending emails…and I wouldn’t get a reply from them. It would instead come from the PR/Communications office telling me if I’d like to set up and interview I could go through them. I found that incredibly frustrating,” said Jonas Miller in a text message. Miller worked as an editor at the paper from spring 2014 to spring 2017. “So I started reaching or directly to the PR office, and they were very rarely able to give me what I needed, when I needed it. I’ve come to realize, especially working in news, that’s often how it goes. But at saint rose it felt a little different. They didn’t really respect the fact that we were student journalists trying to get our feet wet. We weren’t out to destroy the administration, but they (the admin) treated every story like that was our goal. If I could go back, I would tell myself to be more aggressive, and to stand up for myself not as a student, but as a journalist, because (as Cailin would say) everything is a story, no matter who tells you otherwise.”
Kyle Pratt:
“Once the new communication team moved in, people started referring us to PR or telling us they had to get permission to speak with us.” said former editor Kyle Pratt. “We used to be able to interview coaches and others rather freely,”
Katie Klimacek:
Katie Klimacek, who attended Saint Rose from 2013 and graduated in May 2017, first started contributing to The Chronicle in her freshman year as a staff writer. She was then promoted to opinions editor in her sophomore year, then to co-executive editor with Jonas Miller her senior year. Klimacek mainly contributed to the Opinions section. With the news pieces that she wrote, she had to go through Ben Marvin, the predecessor to Jenn Gish. Before Marvin retired in the spring semester of 2017, Klimacek described him as pleasant as he made himself present on campus and he had a sincere approach.
One news article Klimacek wrote in 2017 titled “Interconnectedness and Student Success: Stefanco Discusses 2016-2020 Strategic Plan” was completed after Klimacek was mandated to contact Marvin in order to interview President Carolyn Stefanco. Marvin set up the time and place for the interview as Klimacek said she planned to talk to Stefanco about her plans as president for the upcoming years. Klimacek did not have to send in a list questions prior to their interview.
In journalism, it is a common practice for reporters to ask sources prior to interviews if they consent be recorded via audio. This is to ensure that the journalist captures the exact information given by the source to avoid misquoting as well as to look back on the interview to see if there is anything that needs to be followed up on. Stefanco declined to being recorded.
“I wanted to talk to her on a personal level, but that didn’t happen,” said Klimacek, recalling Lisa Thompson, now Chief of Staff, sitting in on the interview as well.
At that time, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the Excelsior Scholarship, the financial aid program to make college tuition-free. Klimacek asking about this would be related to the original topic, but was told that she would have to schedule another interview if she had any additional questions.
“Nobody wants to be a gotcha person,” said Klimacek as she had asked about it out of genuine curiosity. “I wasn’t looking to expose her on any level [or] looking to catch her in a lie.”
As Gish started working at the College toward the end of Klimacek’s senior year, they did not have many interactions. When Klimacek first met her, it was when she had reached out to her, Miller, and Cailin Brown, faculty advisor for The Chronicle, so she could meet the staff.
“The whole staff was pretty skeptical… She came in for like 20 minutes to introduce herself, and gave [us] her business card. [She] said that if [anyone] had any questions [or wanted] to set up anything, [to email] her,” said Klimacek. “It seemed funny.”
Jackson Wang:
When David Szczerbacki was president of the college from 2012 to 2013, he sat for interviews with the Chronicle staff, according to Spectrum reporter Jackson Wang, who was the executive editor from 2013 to 2014.
“For the most part he was pretty accessible,” said Wang. “He would do interviews with us for the most part.”
The only time Wang remembered having issues with the college administration is when The Chronicle reported on the lack of compliance with the American Disabilities Act for the door entering the lobby of Hearst. The administration did not comment on the story until publication, and The Chronicle followed up with the issue.
Wang remembers conducting several interviews with Szczerbacki.
Now when reporters for The Chronicle try to interview employees, interviewees must receive clearance from the Public Relations department before meeting. However, during Wang’s four years as a reporter and editor for The Chronicle, he did not “recall an incident” involving the employees receiving permission to be interviewed.
“I don’t recall one time, any time, where they said ‘Hold on, one second, let me check with the public relations staff or the communications director,” said Wang. “To go through a communications person back then was pretty much never heard of when I was a Chronicle editor.”
He recalled the presence of public relations officials to “listen,” but never to give approval.
Wang said that working for The Chronicle helped him build connections with sources, gain the ability to identify stories, and become comfortable with reporting overall. He is currently a reporter for Spectrum News and has won awards from the Associated Press.
Alyson Martin:
Alyson Martin was involved with The Chronicle from her first semester through her graduation in 2007; after Saint Rose, she attended graduate school at Columbia Journalism School before joining the faculty as an adjunct.
When asked about the challenges she faced accessing information at Saint Rose, Martin said things have changed since her graduation. In her time at the college, Martin admitted there was some difficulty accessing sources, and student reporters at Saint Rose would occasionally be sent to Ben Marvin, the director of marketing and communications at the time.
However, Martin expressed that the present staff is facing more difficulties than she had.
“It sounds like my access was a little bit easier than yours,” said Martin. In her time at Saint Rose, she had some access to various entities around campus such as the Provost and the President–two entities that reporters at The Chronicle are having issues reaching now.
‘Gag rules’ are common especially at private institutions, according to Martin, and more so at private institutions who use gag rules to protect their reputations. However, many incidents of gag rules and other obstacles to student journalism have garnered national attention, perhaps working against these institutions’ attempts to keep their name clean.
“It would benefit the college to be more open,” said Martin.
Gag rules at academic institutions may interfere with the education of aspiring journalists, making it harder for student journalists to garner realistic experience in the field. News deserts, or areas around the world without adequate news coverage, are expanding; it’s the efforts of student journalists at colleges and universities, according to Martin, that are filling in these gaps.
Story written and researched by: Aileen Burke, Emily Paolicelli, Sarah Clark, Kayla DeMicco, and Sydney Manning
