WANM shouldn't be silenced

da rattler
5
By Robert Ruggles
My friend Henry Kirby, FAMU associate VP for student affairs, was wrong to try to censor students on FAMU's radio station. That is what his e-mail to journalism Dean James Hawkins amounted to.

Students at WAMN-FM have rights of free speech just as Kirby does, and to insinuate that student funds helping to support WANM might be at risk if the students did not stop discussion of the homecoming concert arrangements is a blatant attempt at censorship.

Both WANM and The FAMUan student newspaper are student forums, and have been for a long time. Courts have ruled that administrations cannot interfere with (attempt to censor) them and that any efforts to reduce their funding because of dissatisfaction with what they say cannot be legal because they amount to censorship. I do not know what the WANM students have been saying about the concert, but to suggest that they should get their information only from the university or from the promoters is ridiculous.

There are usually more than two sides to any story, and all sides have axes to grind. Even if the students were off base in anything they said, they still have a right to say it without censorship. If legally actionable errors were made, they will no doubt wind up in court later.

Remember, we all have a right to our opinions. Otherwise, some of our windiest commentators — Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and the crew at MSNBC — might not be holding forth today. The students should never have seen the e-mail. Dean Hawkins should have sent it back to Kirby defending the students and upholding their constitutional rights.

Robert Ruggles is professor emeritus of journalism and founding dean of the School of Journalism and Graphic Communications at FAMU.

You might also be interested in: FAMU radio station told to stop talking about concert
Tags

Post a Comment

5Comments

  1. Well put Dean.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with Dean Ruggles completely. I actually do not have much professional respect for any of the FAMU administrators. They have next to nothing in the way of academic credentials and Mr. Kirby is basically violating the US Constitution. He reminds me of the Republican loud-mouths who try to stifle debate and discussion, all the while claiming they are defending the Constitution. Mr. Kirby and the Republicans have not the slightest conception of what America is about.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Stupid is as stupid does !

    ReplyDelete
  4. The moment student media is silenced, for personal and professional gain, is the minute it starts losing its credibility. Kirby should be ASHAMED of himself. Besides that, they paid this promoter $150k to deliver on a concert where the acts didn't total up to nowhere near $75k. So where's the rest of the money? Kirby is trying to protect his butt for hiring an incompetent promoter, but by silencing the student media (which, regardless of WHO its funded through has a job to deliver the news-good, bad & indifferent-to the students) is the first step to his end @ the University. Making bogus threats and mentions of cutting funding, when 90.5 and the Journalism school are some of the highest ranked in their fields, doesn't make the station or The School of Journalism look bad, it makes Kirby look like the spot-on silencer, contradict that he is.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you and GOOD NIGHT! Dean Ruggles has spoken. I appreciate your effort in standing behind the STUDENT voice. We need more CURRENT administrators to do that instead of trying to act like parents in situations like this.

    ReplyDelete
Post a Comment

#buttons=(Accept !) #days=(20)

Our website uses cookies to enhance your experience. Check Now
Accept !