Date: August 17, 2012
Author: E. Culpepper Clark and Kent Middleton
Contact: Cecil Bentley, cbentley@uga.edu

The Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication joins students, alumni and the community of journalists in defending the rights of students to learn and practice journalism at The Red and Black. The college is gratified that the Board of Directors of The Red and Black newspaper has reconfirmed the editorial authority of student journalists at the paper and reasserted the role of the adviser as teacher, mentor and counselor. The college thinks it appropriate that board member Ed Stamper has tendered his resignation. The college deeply regrets the current crisis of leadership at the paper and its effects on students who have put their trust in The Red and Black as a place to learn the core skills of journalism, communication and credibility.

The college hopes that Red and Black leadership will find a path forward, use this controversy as a learning opportunity and honor its responsibility to students and the educational mission of the independent newspaper, long a lab for Grady students. We hope students will have a chance to follow their passion for journalism at The Red and Black. The future needs journalists.

The college understands the pressures faced by the paper as a commercial media enterprise in these times.  They are pressures faced by many media organizations. The college has been optimistic about proposed changes at The Red and Black to improve the journalism, engage audiences and advertisers and develop students as professionals. The college hopes the newspaper can emerge and grow as a strong and relevant voice to enrich campus life and discourse.

E. Culpepper Clark, dean
Kent R. Middleton, professor and head, Department of Journalism