ODE to a Century
©rtg<m?ifjgnvral&
Making a declaration of independence
A three-year process eventually leads to the Emerald
separating itself from the University and becoming
an incorporated publishing company
By Sarah Kickler
Oregon Daily Emerald
£ A n independent
newspaper.”
JL These words ap
pear at the top of the front
page of the Emerald every
day, but few people are
aware of the events that led
to the newspaper officially
becoming independent
from the University.
The process was initiated
by 1969-70 Editor Paul
Brainerd and 1970-71 Editor
Grattan Kerans, but it was
not complete until June 29,
1971. On that date, Univer
sity President Robert Clark
and Kerans signed docu
ments creating the Oregon
Daily Emerald Board of Di
rectors.
The board’s function, ac
cording to the April 9, 1971,
issue of the paper, was “to
provide a single, clear au
thority over the income and
expenditures of the Emer
ald.”
Brainerd said he was
spurred to examine the is
sue of independence after
an incident at the University
of Washington.
“Anti-war protests were
occurring throughout the
U.S. and on the UO cam
pus,” he said. As a result of
coverage decisions, an edi
tor at the University of
Washington was removed
from office by the school’s
administration. In the legal
challenge to the case, ad
ministrators argued that they
were legally responsible for
the student newspaper.
Brainerd said that al
KMKttAiJO «il*r GnttM Kersas and University
IFreskSriit Robert Clark &igr> the CeastMMkw whirls
puts the ilnmU ssader »«"»_ management.
Emerald independence near
as new board takes over
»* CLAY KA18 ■ complete control over l be financial structure of the
Of the EmeraM University's student newspaper It replaces the
-— —-tinitta«wi.»y PiAiLr-attnru. Itofri which WSH dissolved toy
Emerald archives
The front page story from the April 9,1971, issue of the Emerald showing the signing of the new constitution.
though he had been follow
ing the issue of student
press freedom for some
time, “that event more than
any other put a sense of ur
gency” on the issue for both
the University and the
Emerald.
To take the first steps to
ward independence, Brain
erd began working with the
assistant to the University
president writing up paper
work and determining the
future corporate structure of
the newspaper.
This eventually became
the Constitution of the Ore
gon Daily Emerald Board of
Directors signed June 29,
1971.
Court precedents said stu
“The new structure seems
to have served the paper
well, as far as I can tell. ”
Paul Brainerd
Emerald editor, 1969-70
dent newspapers had free
speech, Brainerd said, but
the social atmosphere of the
1960s led to a change in the
line drawn between student
newspapers and the admin
istration.
“It got murky,” he said.
The administration was
supportive of the change
because they wanted to
avoid situations such as that
at the University of Wash
ington, Brainerd said.
The new board adopted a
resolution to establish the
Oregon Daily Emerald Pub
lishing Company Inc. on
June 29, 1971. This step
made the newspaper inde
pendent as of July 1 that
year. A headline on an edi
torial that day declares,
“We’re on our own.”
Another catalyst for the
change was cited by then
Editor An Bushnell in the
July 1 issue of the paper.
“The reasons for going inde
pendent are primarily eco
nomic,” he says in the arti
cle.
“In the past, the Emerald
was unable to accumulate
whatever profits might exist
at the end of the fiscal year.
Instead, those monies re
verted back to the Universi
ty. Now, we will be able to
accumulate monies. We will
have a growth potential that
did not exist before.”
The main result, accord
ing to the article, would be
the ability to purchase and
update equipment and the
ability to avoid potential
control of the newspaper by
any group, “from the State
Board of Higher Education
to the University administra
tion to student govern
ment."
The final step toward in
dependence according to
the agreement signed by
Keran and Robinson was
taken Oct. 26, 1971, when
the Oregon Daily Emerald
Publishing Company Inc.
was incorporated under the
provisions of the Oregon
Nonprofit Corporation Act.
Soon after independence
was finalized, the Emerald
took further steps to sepa
rate itself from the Universi
ty. In 1974, the offices
moved from Allen Hall to its
present offices in the EMU,
and the corporation began
paying rent for the space
and financing all other ser
vices that had been provid
ed by the University.
Students still pay a sub
scription fee through the in
cidental fee, but the paper is
otherwise financially sepa
rated from the University.
“The new structure seems
to have served the paper
well as far as I can tell,”
Brainerd said.
The concerns that arose dur
ing the late 1960s that eventual
ly led to die paper’s indepen
dence were new, but not
unaddressed. Often throughout
the first 73 years of publication,
the staff would describe its poli
cy to let the readers know that
the paper was student run. Here
are a few excerpts from these
statements:
“The Oregon Daily Emerald,
as the official organ of the Asso
ciated Student Body of the Uni
versity of Oregon, aims to serve
the student body politic in the
following way: to diffuse correcl
and authentic news; to protect
and conserve the highest ideals
of the University; to consistent^
avoid all secret affiliations and
alliances; to play the game
squarely with no favoritism; to
be optimistic and courageous in
fulfilling its functions; to com
ment on, and receive comment
on die problems concerning the
University and its welfare; to
pursue a constructive editorial
policy which necessarily implies
a destructive policy; in short, to
pursue militantly a policy of
proper publicity in regard to ail
problems that confront the Stu
dent Body—all of this, based
on the truism that a democracy
can be effective and efficient
only so long as it maintains a
free and militant press."
—May 11,1916
‘The Emerald has no entan
gling alliances. There are no
strings attached to it
‘The paper will have the
courage of its convictions. The
fear of criticism or opposition
will not deter it from crusading,
providing it believes its crusade
is justified.”
—from “Announcement of
Policy,” by Richard Neuberger,
Sept. 30,1932
“The Emerald is student-man
aged and student-controlled.
Twice yearly, the student-faculty
publications board selects an
editor and a business manager,
who, in turn, select the remain
der of the staff. ...
“Editorials will be used to pre
sent the opinions of the editor
and the editorial board. Some
have declared that since this is
the students’ newspaper, edito
rials should represent the ma
jority opinion of the student
body. This, indeed, is often the
case—but to attempt to do so
with every editorial would be
both impossible and undesir
able.”
—from “The Student
Newspaper,” Sept. 24,1958
“The [publications] board
picks the editors of the three
main publications once a year.
And that’s as much as it gets in
volved in editorial policies. After
that, it confines its interests to
budget and other financial af
fairs.”
— from “Student Editors
Have Freedom Tradition,”
Sept. 20,1966
— Compiled by Sarah Kickler