Studentnewspapers at colleges and universities in Florida, Indiana, Texas, Californiaand Connecticut have recently reported newspapers disappearing from their racks,costing several thousand dollars in lost ad revenue and printing costs andhundreds of hours in staff time.
Students and school officials reportedlytook issues, often destroying them, for reasons ranging from bad news about auniversity Greek organization to a story on illegal drug use to an orientationissue that a school official felt didn’t show the school in a positivelight.
Read the full stories at:
StetsonUniversity (FL):
IndianaState at Terre Haute and Ball State University (IN):
Universityof Southern Indiana (IN):
TexasA&M (TX):
PasadenaCity College (CA):
FairfieldUniversity (CT):
SPLCView: As the number of incidents reported above indicates, newspapertheft has long ceased to be silly prank or occasional nuisance. It is a seriousand ongoing threat that costs America’s college student media thousands ofdollars each year and paints a disturbing picture of the value too many in ournext generation place on free speech. While the situation has improved somewhatover the years, it is time for all prosecutors and college officials to take afirm stand and let newspaper thieves know their actions will not gounpunished.