Last summer I joined the Tiger Media Network, a student run media organization, as a storybuilder, the TMN term for project leaders in both print, video and radio. The small newsroom in the former Heather Hall where I spent the majority of my days, is a stark contrast to TMN’s current home in the Center for Networked Learning.
The days were spent searching for campus news in a season devoid of students and faculty.
After reviewing an article I assigned to staff writer Grant Rahjes in July, I decided to create and publish a graphic that would have unforeseen consequences.
In spirit of the national media, I decided to create a political cartoon of sorts. The image was what I perceived of the current proposed Dodge City Community College-Fort Hays State University merger. It depicted a FHSU tiger swallowing a DCCC conquistador logo.
The intent was not to be inflammatory, but to graphically illustrate the story. I didn’t see the image as editorializing, rather a reflection of what Ford County residents and DCCC members already feared. The TMN editorial board never anticipated the image to garner such negative attention, but what was even more surprising is the continued negative responses to the image even today.
What I failed to realize was the extent of TMN’s audience as a multi-faceted, convergent media organization. The image was published to the website, enabling anyone in the world, including Ford County citizens, to see it.
In light of the continued negative response, and the desire to remove TMN from the story of the merger, the editorial board has made a decision to replace this image with a brief explanation on the website, despite the fact that once something is published to the web, it is nearly impossible to remove it entirely.
And although the image was published in early July, it wasn’t until mid-August that the image began to gain attention.
At the time, FHSU was working with the board of trustees from Dodge City Community College to create a partnership that would be to the institutions mutual benefit. The facts that I took away from the merger at first glance led to the creation of the graphic: the merger would dissolve DCCC, cede academic control of DCCC to FHSU, and ultimately re-brand the community college as an entity of FHSU.
That being said it has been made clear that FHSU sees this merger as more a marriage than a merger and in removing the inflammatory image my hope is that the facts of the merger can now be looked upon without the unintended bias against FHSU and TMN.
When I attended a town hall meeting in Dodge City, I realized the true impact of the image.
On August 12, FHSU President Mirta Martin met with Ford County residents in Dodge City to quell misconceptions surrounding the proposed FHSU-DCCC merger.
I was stunned that a Ford County resident mentioned the image, and was further taken aback that it was considered a “Fort Hays publication.”
While TMN is a branch of FHSU, it is student staffed and maintains editorial independence.
Martin stated her support of TMN’s editorial rights, but she also made it clear that her concerns were based on the fact the pressing concerns of the merger had changed from the merger itself, to an image which bred the notion that it was a “hostile takeover.” The goal of any news organization is to report, not become a part of the news. That was not our goal, nor does it reflect our current wishes and so the image is no longer available on the TMN website.
To some concerned citizens of Dodge City, the image was a mere reflection of what they already perceived of the proposed merger. One of those citizens at the town hall meeting was Byron Hill.
“I have a question, but first I would like to respond to your comment that this is a hostile takeover,” Hill said, a retired DCCC instructor and FHSU graduate.
“I received an email with a link to Friday’s edition to the Fort Hays online publication which showed a picture of a Fort Hays State Tiger devouring a conquistador,” Hill said.
His thoughts were not wrong, but it was never the intention of the image. The proliferation of the internet has created a boundless environment for journalists, one that amplifies their impact for better or worse.
Kent Steward, Director of University Relations, illustrated this point recently in a conversation with me about the image.
“Twenty five years ago when I was a professional journalist, would I have gone upstairs to our hanging files and taken a pair of scissors and cut that [image] out of there? No. But would the public have walked up those stairs and taken down that file and looked at it? No. So it’s a different situation,” Steward said. “Even going into your archive and removing it makes a statement. With the way the web works, it’s as new today as the day it happened for the person who looks at it.”
Officials from both universities agree that this merger would be mutually beneficial and ultimately a great opportunity for Southwestern Kansas, which currently has no four year institution.
“If you look out there five to ten years, and we have a regents university in this community, it will be fantastic,” said Don Woodburn, president of DCCC.
For those of you that are yet to be initiated with the merger proposal here is what you need to know:
Current accredited DCCC instructors will retain their jobs, and more jobs will be created.
Funding from the Kansas legislature will facilitate the merger, not an increase in taxes.
DCCC will be dissolved as a community college, then reestablished as “Fort Hays at Dodge City”.
The DCCC Board of Trustees approved a resolution this summer that endorses a one institution plan in which the existing DCCC would become a branch of FHSU. The Board also voted unanimously to cede academic control of the institution to FHSU in exchange for a technical institute and limited four-year degree programs.
The Kansas Board of Regents have recently approved the merger. It will now be sent to the budget director for the governor of Kansas. If the budget director recommends the merger to the governor, the governor can then decide to put it in the state budget. From that point, it will be up to Kansas state legislators to enable funding for the university.
“If there is no funding, there is no merger,” Martin said.
Four subcommittees and one steering committee, made up of DCCC and FHSU, are now exploring the details of the merger.
The merger would bring increased funding, facilities and technical and four-year programs, creating the first baccalaureate institution in southwest Kansas.
The TMN graphical representation of this merger is certainly not the first to spark controversy, but opponents of the merger have used it as a rally point in their rejection of a FHSU partnership, and that is not the place of any news organization.
It also helped focus the emotions of the people of Ford County and beyond with a powerful vision, bringing attention and discussion to the merger in a way a wall of text cannot.
As a news organization, we cannot control the reactions of our viewers and ultimately, it is up to society to think critically, consider differing opinions, and carefully examine their surroundings to better understand the current state of the world. It is more than regurgitating hearsay. It is more than repeating what you heard on the evening broadcast. It is about becoming aware of the world around you, and building the curiosity to see it for yourself. The TMN image, despite its flaws, opened a discussion. Now it is time to move past it and evaluate the facts of the merger, and accept TMN’s acknowledgement of the unintended consequences of producing the image in the first place.
“This is a process, and I ask people to allow (us) to continue the process,” Martin said. “There are far too many questions than we have answers (for) at this time. But the process will yield these answers. I think we just need to allow time for the process to work and to make those answers available, so patience is key at this point.”