{"id":165630,"date":"2024-03-25T14:49:29","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T13:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=165630"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:15","slug":"debate-how-can-higher-education-media-stay-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/03\/25\/debate-how-can-higher-education-media-stay-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Debate: how can higher education media stay independent?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s sometimes painful for administrators when journalists at their own higher education institutions unearth wrongdoings. But censorship is obviously not the solution, a room full of journalists at a gathering agreed.<\/p>\n

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Het panel vanaf links: Willem Andree (Resource), Matthijs Valent (NVJ), Bridget Spoor (Cursor), Mark Reid (Mare) en Linda Duits. <\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVereniging voor Wetenschapsjournalistiek en -communicatie Nederland<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Why are higher education media so important and why do they need to be independent? In Utrecht, five panel members are sitting in a row, facing an audience of stakeholders. About half the room works for the higher education media; other attendees include editorial board members and freelancers.<\/p>\n

The panel members have been invited by journalist union NVJ and association for science journalism VWN, who have identified a \u201cworrying trend\u201d. They are sounding the alarm<\/a> following a series of incidents in which the freedom of press in higher education have come under pressure.<\/p>\n

Watchdog<\/h2>

Social scientist Linda Duits, who \u2212 amongst other things \u2212 wrote columns for Amsterdam university magazine Folia, kicks things off. Universities are big, powerful institutes and participation councils and independent media used to be able to keep them in check. \u201cThat\u2019s all come crumbling down\u201d, she asserts. \u201cJournalism must serve as a watchdog, but you can only be a watchdog if you\u2019re not being paid by your master, because then you won\u2019t bite.\u201d She says it\u2019s an \u201cunhealthy, dictatorial construction\u201d.<\/p>\n

There are countless examples. In Eindhoven, the university magazine\u2019s website blacked out<\/a> when the publication of an article about the rector\u2019s conflict of interests<\/a> was prevented and the editor-in-chief was sidelined. This even landed editor Bridget Spoor, one of the panel members, in a whistleblowing case.<\/p>\n

Several media at universities of applied sciences have also had to fight for their freedom. The Rotterdam magazine Profielen was recently embedded into the communications department. We would have preferred not to make this switch, the editor-in-chief wrote<\/a> in a commentary. Before that, an incident at HAN University of Applied Sciences had made the national news. An interim manager at the communications department was frustrated with a column<\/a> on \u2018bullshit jobs\u2019 and had his own response placed above<\/em> that column on the website.<\/p>\n

Less pessimistic <\/h2>

\u201cWe\u2019re paid by the university, so that\u2019s something we have to deal with\u201d, acknowledges Willem Andr\u00e9e, editor-in-chief of Wageningen university magazine Resource. \u201cYou have to be fortunate enough that the board understands the university needs a thorn in its side.\u201d He believes this is the case in Wageningen.<\/p>\n

Financial dependence doesn\u2019t have to be a problem, says editor-in-chief Ries Agterberg of Utrecht-based DUB, who\u2019s in the audience. Above all, you must properly arrange things. \u201cThe national news is also funded by the government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agterberg also disagrees that things are that bad: \u201cI am somewhat less pessimistic.\u201d If anything, recently there have been all kinds of great examples of science journalism in higher education. Take Delta, which demonstrated how Delft University of Technology is inadvertently collaborating with the Chinese army. Or Ad Valvas, which discovered everything that was going wrong at the psychology faculty.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not entirely dissatisfied either\u201d, says editor-in-chief of Delta Saskia Bonger. \u201cIt\u2019s difficult at times, but that\u2019s also kind of fun.\u201d You can\u2019t really complain about administrators dodging questions sometimes, she says, because they all do that.<\/p>\n

Reputation manager<\/h2>

And yet, sometimes things go wrong. Editor Bridget Spoor (Cursor) hasn\u2019t felt independent, she says. A triptych on social safety turned into a diptych, because the third part was censored. And the editorial board that was to support them? \u201cThe chairperson was a reputation manager\u201d, says Spoor. The room is filled with booming laughter.<\/p>\n

The danger of self-censorship is always lurking, but that\u2019s not only the case in higher education. One of the moderators, science journalist Ronald Veldhuizen, mentions articles about farmers or motorcycle gangs. It\u2019s tempting to be a bit more cautious, is what he means.<\/p>\n

Good statutes<\/h2>

What needs to be done? Independence needs to be guaranteed, for example through good statutes and expert editorial boards. It\u2019s okay for full professors to be on those, Mark Reid of Leiden\u2019s university magazine Mare believes. They would dare to push back when the board is being difficult.<\/p>\n

Things should be arranged by law, says Linda Duits. Administrators will always say they attach importance to independence, but according to her you shouldn\u2019t blindly trust such statements.<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t forget about distribution. The magazines used to be on the stands everywhere, but nowadays a lot are exclusively online. Duits thinks this is also a type of censorship, especially if the news isn\u2019t sent to students and staff.<\/p>\n

Solidarity<\/h2>

Editor of Erasmus Magazine Elmer Smaling thinks editorial teams should also show more solidarity amongst each other. When Cursor blacked out, all other websites in higher education could have also blacked out their sites, he says. \u201cBut we couldn\u2019t get enough support for this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The media can defend themselves together, says editor-in-chief Paul Disco of HvanA, the magazine of Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. \u201cEverything is insured at higher education institutions, except their reputations.\u201d He\u2019s been called to account before and doesn\u2019t mind this all that much. But when freedom is truly at stake, media could be quicker to join forces \u2018so a real problem is created for such a board\u2019.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, in higher education there\u2019s a Circle of Editors-in-chief<\/a>, which protects the interests of higher education media. It is chaired by Willem Andr\u00e9e (Resource). The circle sent a critical letter to Eindhoven University of Technology when the conflict with the editorial team arose there.<\/p>\n

Press officer<\/h2>

These weren\u2019t the only themes, ideas and insights that were discussed. There was hardly any discord: there were no administrators in the room and only one press officer. His main complaint: journalists sometimes copy his press releases verbatim and sign them with their own names.<\/p>\n

NVJ and VWN won\u2019t let the issue rest for now. The union is investigating the statutes and wants to support the editorial teams in their independence. The Circle of Editors-in-chief is also scrutinising the statutes.<\/p>\n\n\t

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