Gannett-owned college newspapers tell story

By: Erik Myers

Posted: 1/29/08

After media giant Gannett Company, Inc. expressed interest in acquiring the Collegian, many eyes have turned to Florida, where Gannett owns two student newspapers, where students and former employees of the papers have mixed opinions about working under the media conglomerate.

The FSView and Florida Flambeau, the newspaper of Florida State University, along with the Central Florida Future, newspaper of the University of Central Florida, are both student papers owned by Gannett.

The Tallahassee Democrat, a Gannett-owned newspaper, purchased the FSView and Florida Flambeau in late July 2006. The college paper was an independent, privately owned for-profit newspaper at the time, but its purchase marked the first time a major news company would make such an investment in the college market.

Employees of the college newspaper said when Gannett took over, their newspaper saw little change.

Chris Lewis, general manager of the FSView and Florida Flambeau, was employed as sales manager with the paper when the two independent owners of the paper, publisher Robert Parker and General Manager Jennifer Irwin, sold the paper to Gannett.

Lewis, who graduated from FSU in 1997, was promoted to his position last July. He says he has been with the paper for six years -- as a non-student staff member -- and in terms of content, operations and salaries, the paper hasn't changed since its purchase.

"It's still 100 percent student-produced content; there's no prior review done by anyone, only the student staff," Lewis said.

But one former employee said the FSView was lacking in quality both before and after the purchase and was devoid of any educational component before ever being sold to Gannett.

Rob Davis, former photo editor for the FSView and Florida Flambeau, graduated from FSU after the fall 2007 semester and currently works freelance for several Florida newspapers. Davis, who started at the paper in 2005, said Parker, the former publisher, ran the paper as a business, not an educational institution.

"Before (Gannett) bought it, the editorial staff was basically the paper: We had no editorial advising, no educators or anything working with us," Davis said. "Basically, (Parker) had no newspaper experience; he bought it as a business prospect."

FSU does not have a school of journalism, and Davis said the paper, made up of mostly English and creative writing students, was sub par compared to most college newspapers. When Gannett purchased the paper, little was offered in the form of additional educational investment or opportunities.

"As far as opportunities, it depended on how much you put in to it: Going out, getting experience, doing stories," Davis said. "But there was absolutely no educational element to it.

"There was some talk of getting reporters from the Tallahassee Democrat to come over and do some things for the writers for the FSView, but that never really happened. It'd make sense; Gannett could and should do that. I mean, why not?"

While the paper employs an FSU graduate for design advising, there is no experienced newsroom adviser, which is rare among college newspapers.

But Lewis said the paper offers its staff occasional training sessions taught by Democrat editorial staff. The paper's tight staff successfully trained and advised themselves in creating the paper, he added.

"They've done a lot of their own training by looking at (Associated Press) material, AP stylebooks, other newspapers across the country and have tried to teach themselves," Lewis said. "It's a testament to being on their own, having good staff writers and coming up on their own efforts."

A similar case occurred with the Central Florida Future, the newspaper of the University of Central Florida. UCF offers a bachelor's degree in journalism.

The Future was privately owned by Knight Publishing prior to Gannett's purchase in February 2007.

Melissa Heyboer, who currently serves as The Future's editor-in-chief and served as sports editor when the paper was purchased, said the Future's editorial staff was kept out of the loop when negotiations were being made.

"It was kind of a decision we didn't really have a say in," Heyboer said. "We just met one day with the publisher and was told it was happening. I didn't know of the interest until it actually happened."

Heyboer said the staff was somewhat skeptical of the new ownership, but because Gannett did not make any changes to the paper, she has had no problem with the company.

"It's like it never happened," Heyboer said. "I guess it was a good thing in the end. It hasn't been a bad transition at all."

While both Florida newspapers operated as for-profit entities under private corporations before their sale to Gannett, the Collegian is an independent, non-profit newspaper operating, ultimately, under the CSU Board of Governors.

A potential partnership between the Collegian and Gannett would be an unprecedented event in the history of college media, the first time a corporate news company took over a non-profit college newspaper from a public institution.

The FSView and Florida Flambeau act without a newsroom adviser. But the Collegian employs a former Los Angeles Times reporter as its newsroom adviser, a creative services manager with 12 years experience in design and a part-time photo adviser who also works for the Greeley Tribune.

CORRECTION:

Three facts in Tuesday's article regarding Florida student newspapers were inaccurate. Chris Lewis acts as the general manager of the FSView and Florida Flambeau, not managing editor. Lewis graduated from Florida State University in 1997, not 1996, and was employed as a sales manager when the paper was purchased by Gannett, not as a sales associate. The Collegian apologizes for the mistake.

News Editor Erik Myers can be reached at news@collegian.com.