Saint Louis University Wins Control of Student Newspaper

By: Saint Louis University administrators have won approval from the school's board to adopt a new charter for the student newspaper later this month.

Administrators told the board of trustees on Saturday they wanted to delay the effective date until May 15 to give student leaders time to air their concerns.

The new charter changes how editors are hired and fired. The university says the changes are aimed at improving the quality of The University News.

Student journalists say the university is trying to gain more control over a newspaper that has been critical of administrative decisions.

Jeff Fowler, a university spokesman, said the university has "no desire and no intent to control editorial decisions."

Diana Benanti, outgoing editor-in-chief, said the editor should be hired by the staff, not by some "random selection committee" that doesn't work in the newsroom. Benanti doesn't know if new discussions with administrators over the next 10 days will work.

"I'd say there's a 50-50 chance they may agree to what we're asking for, or they may just listen to our suggestions and do what they want anyway," she said.