The student news site of the University of Northern Iowa

Northern Iowan

The student news site of the University of Northern Iowa

Northern Iowan

The student news site of the University of Northern Iowa

Northern Iowan

University of Iowa ad elicits concerns at UNI

A full-page color advertisement from the University of Iowa ran in the March 27 issue of the Northern Iowan. While the editorial and sales sides are run separately to avoid conflicts of interest, I felt it was important as executive editor to address the concerns readers have about the UI ad.

First off, I would like to state the guidelines the NI has for advertisements. When our production staff is determining whether or not to publish an ad, they objectively decide whether the content is offensively graphic. While Panther fans may view Herky the Hawk as a sight for sore eyes, the UI ad is not offensive in regard to gore, sexual or discriminatory content.

Second, I’d like to address the newspaper’s role on our campus. We’re here to serve as an objective resource for the UNI and Cedar Valley community. This school year, we’ve brought you a plethora of enterprise stories, such as articles regarding wait lines at the UNI Counseling Center, a deficiency in available parking on campus and stories regarding crime on campus. Additionally, the newspaper provides opinion columns from UNI students, a calendar of events and everyone’s favorite Sudoku puzzles.

For us to provide you with our content, we need to consistently practice and protect our first amendment rights like any other newspaper. And like any other newspaper, we need funding to sustain our production. This is where things get tricky. The Northern Iowan is funded solely by funds from the student services fee and advertising. We pay for our own space in Maucker Union, the printing of the newspaper, etc. We are a separate entity from the university and do not serve as public relations for UNI, even though we’re a newspaper that covers UNI.

This separation between the NI and the university is imperative so we can provide you the best ethical and objective content possible. Sometimes there will be stories you read in the newspaper that are distasteful to you. The same goes for our advertising. We welcome criticism regarding our stories and ads, but we also need to keep a distinct line that protects us from conflicts of interest.

Now, this is typically an argument that’s heard for editorial and news content, but it’s still the same with our ads. From an objective point of view, the UI ad fits with our policies and they paid the appropriate amount to run in our paper. From a subjective point of view, as a Panther myself, I could extremely dislike our sister institution and want to protect UNI and encourage enrollment here. But we’re running a newspaper. We will not censor or deny anyone a voice, be it an article or an ad.

So love it or hate it, ads with black and gold are here to stay. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the news/editorial side of the paper, feel free to contact me. If you have any questions regarding advertising/sales, feel free to contact Managing Editor Dakota Ingles. Our contact information is on page two.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All Northern Iowan Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *