University budget cuts impact student media

There were many reasons why I decided to write for the opinion desk during my first year at the student newspaper. I didn’t want to report on local restaurant openings, and I wasn’t interested in covering basketball games (which I couldn’t even try to do). I wanted to express my opinion and be able to speak freely about sometimes controversial but still important topics. So I did. I have written countless opinion pieces on everything from campus trends to the misogyny of frat boys, and even questioned the policies and decisions of university authorities many times. Many of these stories caused controversy, one of which led to him being identified as me.

It was definitely worth it every time. In my sophomore year, I was hired as an opinion editor and started running my own opinion desk. I continued to balance my role as an editor with publishing my own stories. As an aspiring journalist, I was proud of the blissful freedom and glory of being able to write my opinion on a college campus. It’s a great gift for students, journalists, and media.

I took it for granted.

Last week, the Opinion Desk and my position and Opinion Editorial Assistant position were unexpectedly terminated. The sudden decision was described as a “necessary budget cut” due to the UA’s current financial crisis. However, despite allegations of media budget cuts, other desks were not made redundant. No other editorial positions were affected, only the opinion desk. The irony of this behavior is that even if I wanted to, I couldn’t write about budget cuts. Even if I wanted to write an opinion piece sharing everything about how important the Opinion Desk is to student media, or even if I wanted to object to this abrupt termination, I couldn’t do it. It’s not in our newspaper anyway.

The million dollar question then arises: why do we need an opinion desk?

The answer is still unknown, but here’s what I do know. Terminating a section of student media also means silencing it. If students do not have a way to express their opinions through a newspaper, the integrity of that newspaper is null and void.

Like Olivia, I joined the Opinion Desk to have creative freedom over the content of the stories I write. After a year and a half at the desk, I decided to apply for the position of deputy editor to gain experience in journalism. Just a few weeks after taking the job, I was notified that I was being laid off from my desk and my job. Not only did this cost Olivia and me positions, but it also forced reporters to find other desks to write stories on, even though their passion and interest was in opinion.

The Daily Wildcat claims that students can write opinions from separate desks with different editors if they wish. While this sounds reasonable in theory, it can overwhelm other desk editors, who must be responsible for editing more stories and overseeing more reporters. Additionally, other desk editors have little experience supporting, editing, and working with opinion pieces. This can be a stumbling block for opinion writers who are likely to have to deal with shortcomings in getting their articles published.

At a recent meeting, media student leaders said this was an opportunity for reporters to join other desks and could continue to write reviews if they wished. Nevertheless, the lack of flexibility to write real opinions under the established desk feels more like a deterrent than anything else. The lack of solutions has left Olivia and I, and all of our previous opinion reporters, without a voice.

As universities continue to face a financial crisis, students need safe and legitimate spaces to express their opinions and hold leaders accountable, now more than ever. Recently, a reporter named the former CFO and the current university president and made it seem like they were out of touch. It is interesting that the opinion desk and opinion editor positions were abolished shortly after this article was published. Where will students voice their opinions on this situation in the future? Will student media have any influence in this situation?

If this conversation doesn’t happen now, the future of our news will be bleak. If we as students do not have the fundamental right to write our opinions, student media will be completely violated, and so will the university as an educational institution. President Robbins, the Chief Financial Officer, and all other leaders responsible for this financial crisis should immediately resign so that new leadership can bring new solutions for students. Until then, unity within the student media remains on hold.