On Monday, The Bulletin staff reported to Police and Safety that a stack of 200-300 newspapers had been stolen. So far, the person who committed the theft has not been identified.
Newspaper theft is not just a problem at Emporia State. According to the Student Press Law Center’s Web site newspaper theft has increased in frequency on campuses throughout the country. Most commonly papers are stolen during parent visit weekends or alum events to prevent any bad press from resonating from the campus.
Acts of theft and vandalism are upsetting – and illegal.
Stealing the papers is not only an ineffective way to voice concerns about the direction of the paper, it is also a costly and illegal action. The SPLC estimates that newspaper theft costs student media organizations thousands of dollars each year. Though the paper is offered to students free of charge we have to pay to print and produce each issue. When they are stolen it’s a waste of student fees. Another factor is the amount of advertisements that are placed within the paper. Advertisers pay to put adds in the paper and additional money is spent to print the ads.
But the biggest problem involved in this situation is that it creates a style of censorship against our First Amendment rights. We choose to print information and opinions to educate and inform the student body. But we have the right, just as any newspaper or citizen in this country does, to print publish or speak anything that we would like, and the right should be defended by any means necessary.
The school should be working to prevent anyone or anything from censoring freedoms on campus. Many schools around the country have imposed rules and sanctions that penalize anyone caught stealing papers in bulk. Studentpress.org offers a few examples of what a school policy against newspaper theft looks like. Our school should impose similar rules on our campus.
It should always be remembered that The Bulletin, like any source of news media, should be the direct voice of the public. If there are people who don’t like what is being put in the paper then they should speak up officially. But if we are never informed of people’s complaints then we can never make take those critiques into account. The Bulletin is a learning tool for students and it is only through constructive criticism that we can continually grow.
There are many ways to voice complaints or opinions, including utilizing online comments, writing a letter to the editor, emailing editors or simply calling The Bulletin office.
If you are unhappy with what is published in the paper, you have a right to voice it. But not by infringing on our rights as stated in the First Amendment.
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