Media Board Meeting
September 14, 2007
Student Center
1849
Present: Rebecca Barrieau, Chris Boulay, Matthew Barnes, Wayne DeRoy, Alexander Estrom, Gilbert Gigliotti, Heath Leber, Maurice Ledoux, Vivian Martin, Tiffany Moffo Simpson, Karen Ritzenhoff, Susan Sweeney, Hilda Sullivan
Guests: David Cappella, Ravi Shankar, Frank Gagliardi Scott Hazan
I. Welcome
Ms. Barrieau called the meeting to order at 12:10p.m.
The minutes from the June 19, 2007 meeting were reviewed.
Motion: (Estrom/Rowan) to approve the June 19, 2007 Media Board Minutes.
Motion Passed (9 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstained) (MBD08-007)
Ms. Barrieau asked everyone to introduce themselves as it was the first meeting of the new semester.
II. Attendance
Attendance was passed around.
III. Media Board Membership
Mr. Barnes read Section 4.2 of the Media Board constitution which clarifies voting members of the Media Board. He identified which positions on the Media Board need to be filled for the 2007-2008 year. The Media Board has an open Student at Large seat and Community Representative seat. Applications for the Student at Large seat were distributed to the Board to assist in recruiting a student to fill the vacant seat. Ms. James will have the applications put on the Media Board Website so interested students may be directed there to get an application. Applications should be submitted to the Media University Assistant’s office on the 2nd floor of the Student Center before the next meeting in order to be considered by the Board for the seat. Questions may be forwarded to Ms. James at 832-1512. Nominations for Community Representatives should be forwarded to Ms. James as well.
IV. Microfilming of Media Publications
Ms. Barrieau welcomed our guest Mr. Frank Gagliardi (Associate Director of the CCSU Library) who has been facilitating the archiving of CCSU’s student media publications. The Board has been sponsoring this endeavor and would like to continue to do so. Mr. Gagliardi thanked the Board for their support of the archiving of The Recorder and a number of other student run publications that no longer exist. The publications are now accessible online. He would like the Board to consider microfilming historic yearbooks and class lists. Mr. Gigliotti suggested that the Media Board consider the old yearbooks. However, he did suggest that Mr. Gagliardi considering going to the Alumni Association to see if they are interested in archiving the old class lists, since class lists are not related to media.
V. 2007-2008 Budgets
All recognized and registered media organizations are required to submit their budget requests for consideration at the next meeting no later than September 28, 2007.
VI. Training Day
In keeping with the recommendations made by the Journalistic Integrity Committee the Board discussed hosting an event for the University at large that would focus on educating the campus on the First Amendment.
An article on a program another college campus held called “Food for Thought” was shared. It is a program used to educate a campus community on free speech which involves inviting students to a free meal at which they surrender their constitutional rights at the door in exchange for said free meal. Mr. Rowan expressed concerns that in the current climate such a program could backfire. Mr. Estrom expressed concerns that the program be well organized and thought out so that it did not fail to make the intended point. Ms. Barrieau fully supported the idea of sponsoring a program such as this. She thought it would be a great way to educate the campus. Matt Barnes agreed to have a potential program recommendation for the Board to consider at the October meeting. If the proposal does not satisfy the Board’s interest in educating on the First Amendment, other ideas would be considered.
In addition to the individual efforts conducted to improve the training of student volunteers in each of the media mediums, Ms. Sweeney suggested the board consider sponsoring an in-service for the student volunteer community participating in Media Organizations that would address the question “who is the community you serve and what is your obligation to them” as well as diversity education.
Speakers with notoriety such Colin McEnroe (famous person from local Media arena) were considered as keynotes for such a training. Mr. Gigliotti said that he did not think that Colin McEnroe was relevant among college students. Mr. Boulay agreed and said that he did not think he was famous enough. Mr. Gigliotti suggested that we consider finding someone else. Dr. Martin suggested a former Ombudsman from the Courant perhaps in combination with another trainer. Ms. Barrieau will consult with advisors in Journalism and Student Activities to put a training in place that encompasses both agendas. Dr. Ritzenhoff asked if the training could be made mandatory. Ms. Sweeney cautioned the Board regarding the mandate of any training for student run organizations. It has been her experience that students do not respond well to a mandate. Mr. Ledoux suggested that if it was marketed correctly and endorsed by all media leadership it should be received well because it was not imposed but highly recommended.
Motion: (Ledoux/Estrom) To sponsor an in-service focusing on Community Standards and Diversity Educations which will target the student volunteer community currently involved with student run media organizations at CCSU on October 6, 2007.
Motion Passed (9 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstained) (MBD08-008)
VII. Media Constitutions
Mr. Barnes spoke to the Board about a process to systematically examine and provide feedback to each of the media organizations with regard to the state of their current constitutions/bylaws/ and standard operating procedure manuals. He suggested that each month the Board look at a different media organization’s constitution and recommend changes and suggestions to the corresponding organization. Over the next month he suggested that Board members look at the Helix constitution and in the meeting in October they can suggest changes and provide input to Helix board members. The next constitution that is to be reviewed is The Recorder in November. The constitution currently in the Board packets is the newly revised constitution of The Recorder which has not yet been approved by the Student Affairs Committee. Ms. Sweeney commented that having the Board’s input on the newly revised constitution before it is considered by the Student Affairs Committee is preferred so that the media mediums may consider and incorporate changes recommended by the Board before the SAC reviews it.
VIIII. Club Updates
Recorder
On September 12, 2007, The Recorder printed a comic strip that offended CCSU students and faculty alike. Mr. Boulay was speaking on behalf of The Recorder. Mr. Rowan had to leave the meeting early to attend his internship. Ms. Sullivan wondered if The Recorder considered that if what they did reflected poorly on other media organizations and the campus. Mr. Boulay admitted that they had not considered that, but that he hoped that it did not paint other media organizations in a negative light.
Ms. Barrieau asked the Recorder what their model was for the paper that would allow them to consider such a comic. The Recorder discussed current culture and South Park. Ms. Barrieau challenged that the school newspaper use television as their model. Mr. Ledoux voiced his concerns that last year’s controversy surrounding The Recorder had affected Helix negatively. Last year when The Recorder printed an article called, “Rape Only Hurts When You Fight It” Helix had received complaints from students and faculty who had mistaken Helix for The Recorder. Mr. Barnes expressed concern that finding humor in tying up a teenager is not a far cry from finding rape humorous. Ms. Barrieau is concerned that The Recorder is not positively reflecting CCSU students. Dr. Gigliotti asked the Board to discuss who was in their community. Board members asserted it was students, staff, faculty and management at the University not just the students. The Board wanted to understand how The Recorder made the decision to run this comic. Mr. Boulay admitted that there is not a process in place for deciding whether or not to run a comic and that this is something they might consider enacting. The Board stressed the importance of having a process in place for deciding whether or not to run sensitive material. A request was made that Mr. Rowan and Mr. Boulay develop written policies and procedures that should be followed in the future to guide the editorial process when considering a variety of types of newspaper submissions. The Board requested that it get a chance to review and give feedback on these once developed. As The Recorder is due to be reviewed in November, it was suggested that something be submitted by the next meeting so that feedback can be offered at the following meeting by the Board.
Ms. Barrieau stated that the Board is likely to be asked to address concerns regarding the comic at the next meeting if the community is displeased with the response they get from The Recorder itself.
The Recorder will send ten (10) members to the National College Media Convention in Washington, D.C. on October 24-29, 2007. They also reported hosting an orientation workshop for all members Sunday, September 2 in the Student Center. Dr. Martin presented “How to find and develop news stories-even if you are writing an opinion piece.” A Second workshop on editing is planned for October. Professor Canella has agreed to facilitate this workshop for them.
Mr. Ledoux spoke on behalf of Helix and announced that this year’s Helix would only be released once a year instead of twice a year. The reason for this is so they can produce a Helix that meets their standards of quality. Mr. Ledoux also asked if buying a microphone to record poetry readings would fall under the “Media Tech/Equipment Account”. Ms. Sweeney said that it would and that they should put something together to consider at the next meeting.
WFCS announced that they are attending and broadcasting the CCSU football games. They also announced that they are attending a conference (CMJ) in New York City in October to further their knowledge about college radio. They had their first organizational meeting Sunday, September 9. They are currently in the process of training a number of new DJ’s.
In closing, Ms. Sweeney advised the Board that some of the community response to the recent edition of The Recorder will require the Board to be more diligent in its role and that members should review the Board’s constitution so that they could effectively assist the student run media organizations in looking more critically at themselves and the service they provide to the campus.
Ms. Barrieau reminded the Board that the next meeting will be October 12th at noon in a location to be determined.
Respectfully Submitted by,
Amanda James (Media University Assistant)
Last updated: Wednesday January 30, 2008