I love Texas A&M. I’ve lived in College Station most of my life. Both of my parents are Aggies. I was planning on applying to a few different schools as your typical high school junior does, but it seemed like a foregone conclusion that I would enroll at Texas A&M in 2023.
I thought I had it all planned out. I wanted to write for The Battalion, get those sweet bylines, turn that into a solid internship and turn that into a career in sports media. A mere week ago, I reached out to current and former Battalion sportswriters asking about what I needed to do to make that happen.
Then Texas A&M University President M. Katherine Banks walked up to The Battalion and said “join us or die.”
On Thursday, February 10, The Battalion’s leadership was approached with an ultimatum. They were told to stop printing, effective immediately, and transition to a digital-only publication under a new Department of Journalism at Texas A&M. If they refused? The Battalion was to be stripped of all its resources, including their office space inside the MSC and longtime advisor Douglas Pils.
After outcry from the student body and the rest of the community, Banks agreed to “allow” The Battalion to continue their weekly print issues until the end of the semester, when the transition to digital will be made.
Banks can’t take away the university’s funding of The Battalion because the university doesn’t fund the Battalion. At all. All revenue comes from ad sales, the majority of which are in print. At the time of Banks’ ultimatum, the paper had already finalized $61,000 in ad deals for the rest of the semester.
The university doesn’t print the paper either. The Battalion does the same thing we do at The Roar: We pay The Eagle to print our papers using their printing presses.
In a direct quote taken from Katherine Banks that first appeared in The Battalion’s coverage of their own demise, she openly admits just how unqualified she is: “I’m not a professor of journalism, I don’t understand exactly why [print media] is important to the field.”
Since I, a high school student, have more print journalism experience than President Banks, let me explain why print media is important to the field.
The print edition of any student newspaper brings eyes onto articles and issues that would have never been seen had they appeared exclusively online. That’s something I and the rest of The Roar know well. We print 1,000 copies of our paper every six weeks, and distribute over half of those to teachers and the student body at Consol.
We’ve only had a handful of online pieces reach over 150 views since I’ve been a part of this staff. People don’t magically consume digital news the same way they read print. For student newspapers especially, print media allows them to get their coverage directly into the hands of students and anyone else on campus. That’s how change happens.
Let’s not forget the benefit it has for Texas A&M’s journalism students either. Despite the journalism industry’s shift to digital, the majority of entry-level jobs that recent college graduates take are print media outlets—not the large digital sites Banks has in mind. The Battalion is the perfect place for those students to learn those skills, and axing its print coverage does a disservice to the very students Banks is claiming to want to help.
But that does not address the biggest problem with her decision. She wants to put The Battalion under the control and authority of a new Department of Journalism at Texas A&M. She wants to put an independent student newspaper under the control of the university it covers—and its coverage has not always been positive. Why should Texas A&M allow an article to be published in The Battalion that criticizes something they did wrong?
The answer is that they won’t. Regardless of whether or not censorship was the motivation behind the decision, it will be the result.
And good luck finding any prospective students who would want to write for a publication that is the university’s lapdog. What do they gain from writing for a paper that’s nothing more than a public relations arm for the school? Keep in mind that there’s plenty of other good options for journalism degrees and student newspapers that don’t have to deal with a university president who just declared war.
If Katherine Banks wants to establish a Department of Journalism, she’s screwing it up. Badly. I am not going to write for a “newspaper” that has their content controlled by the university that they are covering. That’s not journalism, and it’s not something I or any other reasonable journalism student would want to be a part of.
The University of Texas just took the number one spot in this future journalism student’s college rankings. Texas A&M has only itself and its president to blame.
Thank you! You clearly stated many of the thoughts which have been swirling in my head. As a Old Ag I regret the loss of you as a future Aggie, as well as the others out there making the same decision.
Please listen. The Batt is so important. Our student made lifelong connections on staff. He learned and grew because of this experience. Please keep the Batt in print and carry on.
An excellent article, crisp and concise. We are obviously going to miss out on a great student. I am three generations away from you so print is my preference, but your explanation of the print Roar’s value is unassailable. It is like being in a real library, adjacenct serendipity!
Amen! Several different issues here and I agree wholeheartedly as a UH ‘89 Journalism and Public Relations Graduate. The press needs to be free, AND despite the great advances in the digital age, paper is important for a tactile society and still holds Importance in This Society.
Wow! If this editorial was written by a high school teacher, imagine what this talented communicator could achieve if his talents are encouraged, martial-ed, advanced, and propelled toward a “readership” that this current university president in no way is prepared to evaluate. Why don’t we consider THE BATTLION as “tradition”, and adhere to it just a few decades longer. Print media just might re-establish itself, somewhat, in this world. Probably not. But shouldn’t it live as long as it can on a campus that values what it was almost as much as what it will be.
High school STUDENT, rather. My apologies.
Well said, Ian. As a high schooler and future journalism major, I commend you for your writing skills. Your writing at this level is much better than some of the “professionals with 20+ years in their respective fields” whose work I have to review and edit on a daily basis.
As an international student who arrived at A&M decades ago, I read and learned a lot from Battalion. I’m ashamed that Ms. Banks and the administration have resorted to arm-twisting.
I for one fully support Battalion Team to continue as-is rather than become a mouthpiece for the A&M administration. If it comes to a fight; ideological or legal, I’d be happy to support any such action.
For being a long-time Aggie, Ms. Banks should know, Aggies don’t respond well to ultimatums! If it’s a fight she seeks, a fight she shall receive!
Wow, Ian. So well said. You have a wonderful career in journalism ahead of you. We – our nation – needs reporters like you.
Every word in this article is pure gold….the student writer is already an accomplished editorialist…she writes clearly, covers the facts, and leaves us with takeaways and the consequences of an ill-conceived decision by someone who sees herself as no-nothing about the situation she is making decisions about. Banks has done a lot for the university, but her weakness is wanting to move everything forward at breakneck speed…she manipulates situations to make it look like input is being solicited, but in the end it’s my way or the highway. Sharp loves this kind of “leadership.” In the end Banks doesn’t like to be questioned…she has a habit of unloading people who don’t agree with her, leaving in place a group of minions who will do her bidding, or lose their jobs. Which leads one to guess that the BATS unfavorable opinion pieces about the consolidation of colleges, particularly A&S, didn’t sit well with her. Anyway, congrats to the writer of this wonderful piece…Banks better hope she doesn’t come to A&M…since it’s clear she is capable of thinking for herself.
It’s he actually, but thanks!
Ian:
Great read.
(This from a Consol grad and longtime journalist)
I am a graduate of the University of Texas and as such welcome you to our world renowned College of Journalism. Looking forward some day to see your writings in the Daily Texan.
Ian, as a former newspaper editor and mother of two Aggies, I congratulate you on your editorial. You succinctly put forth many of the issues many of us have been discussing. Next, as a former Bryan city councilmember I urge you to reconsider. TAMU needs you! Not everyone has the courage to speak truth to power and to do so with eloquence. In the end you must do what’s best for you, but I hope you’ll give your decision a second thought. Best wishes on what I foresee as a great future. You are needed in Aggieland!
Go to a real journalism school, Ian. The world needs real, untethered journalists. Explore UT and Texas Tech. Both have produced fabulous journalists.
Thank you for staring this so concisely. You will go far, and it is only to TAMU’s detriment that it will be somewhere else. I’m truly disheartened by the president’s decision.
I don’t care where I read a story:print or digital. I do care that it is unbiased and as independent as the writer can be. If we lose the spirit of news reporting, we lose the basic ideals of our democracy. Pursuit of truth must be the central theme of any credible newspaper, website or blog.
Not everyone can afford a computer, but a copy of the Battalion is easy to obtain. I’m an Aggie at heart and there are many Aggies in my family including my husband I say start a petition. In keeping with Aggie tradition “give them hell”.
Let me stipulate I am a former editor of The Rice Thresher but have a continuing relationship with another land grant university in Virginia. I am both saddened and angry to hear the news about The Battalion. I support independent journalism in any setting, but I have a special fondness for high school and college newspapers. The publications remain vulnerable to arbitrary administration decisions even if they find their own resources and make responsible decisions as to their operations.
I did work as an ink-stained wretch and consider myself a veteran journalist because I worked at Texas newspapers that no longer publish.
I can empathize with your disappointment. I live four blocks from the Forty Acres and have occasion to read the Daily Texan. I will look for your byline.
Mr. Curtis. Your editorial made my day. You have quite a future in this business. I hope you are serious about looking up the road and considering a little burnt orange in your future. We would love to have you.