The Marquette Tribune reported last week that Marquette's Academic Senate approved new by-laws for the university's Student Media Board.

The board is a body comprised of faculty members and students who address issues and establish policies pertaining to the Tribune, MUTV, Marquette Radio, The Marquette Journal and Student Media Interactive, which runs the student media outlets' Web sites.

The passage of the new by-laws indicates the board will be more active and consistent in its operations than it has in the past, which has implications for Tribune readers.

An example of the kind of issues the board addresses is a policy prohibiting student media outlets from running advertisements for health clinics that perform abortions. The policy was established after the Tribune ran such an advertisement in the 1990s. As the Tribune's publisher, the university has the right to refuse certain advertising.

This board is not a censoring body, though. It does not review the editorial content, which is separate from advertising, of student media outlets prior to publication. The board will review content if an outlet is concerned about a potentially sensitive story it plans to run to ensure all journalistic bases are covered, but it does not dictate what can and cannot be published.

The board "is going to help ensure that all of the student media outlets are maintaining the highest standards of journalism and advertising," said Ana Garner, interim dean of the College of Communication. "This is not a censorship board."

Garner also notes the board is not a legal entity. It does not make legally binding decisions, although it does investigate issues from a media law perspective.

The activeness and visibility of the board has waxed and waned during its existence. In recent years, the board has met two to three times per academic year to discuss budgetary items and to select the new heads of the student media outlets.

Associate Professor of Journalism Jim Scotton initially established the board 20 years ago as the Student Publications Board. At the time, Scotton was serving as dean of the then-College of Journalism.

The genesis of the board lay in the need for an independent body to address conflicts resulting from coverage in student publications, Scotton said last week. One of the main intentions of starting the board was to create a buffer between student media and the university — the Tribune's publisher — when conflicts arose over coverage.

The board has been effective at addressing larger complaints and questions about content in the Tribune and the other student media outlets, Scotton said.

Andrew Johnson is the editor in chief of The Marquette Tribune. He can be reached at (414) 288-7246. The Newsroom Insider is published every other Tuesday.

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on October 25, 2005.