By Na Jeong-ju
Konkuk University in Seoul has decided to suspend publication of its school newspaper amid a row with student reporters over editorial rights.
The 1,260th edition of the Konkuk Press, a newspaper published for its students, was put on hold last Monday, following disputes between reporters and a professor who acts as editor over a front-page top story.
According to the school, student editors had decided to make the ongoing discussions on tuition cuts the top article, but the professor editor, representing the school, opposed it and demanded a different story.
After failing to narrow their differences, the suspension of its publication was ordered.
The students issued an extra edition to criticize the school authorities and demand full editorial rights.
“The professor has repeatedly abused his authority to violate our editorial rights and students’ rights to know,” they said in an editorial. “We urge the school to revise the rules to ensure freedom of press within the school and deprive the professor of the editor position.”
The students said the professor, identified only as Chung, pressured students not to write stories concerning the demand for a tuition cut and repeatedly threatened to suspend the publication if they did.
The school responded that the newspaper was not just for students.
“It is for all people who love the university. The student reporters should know that school employees as well as tens of thousands of graduates also read the newspaper,” a school spokesman said.
“The Konkuk Press is a newspaper that was formally registered with the government. And it is published by the president with school money. That’s why editorial rights belong to the school, not the student reporters.”
Both sides are now on a collision course.
Two days after the extra edition was issued, the school dismissed a student editor, citing a false report on a sexual harassment case in which a Konkuk student was involved.
The students have launched a petition, online and offline, to call for full editorial rights and demanded the dismissal of the professor editor.