Editor's Note: This article was updated on 11/3/09 to clarify a few inaccuracies.
The students of California’s College of the Canyons think their First Amendment rights have been taken away. Their school newspaper, the Canyon Call, was shut down. It operated since the college was founded in 1969.
Michael DeLorenzo is a College of the Canyons graduate who wrote for the Canyon Call. He believes the loss of the newspaper is an important loss of a First Amendment opportunity for students. He went on to say that when he was on the Canyon Call it felt like they were always fighting against the school administration to get out students’ opinions in the paper. He said the school was always upset at them. DeLorenzo said now there will be no one to tell students what’s going on.
“There are no independent sources,” he said.
Another former Canyon Call writer, Matt Ehresman, also thought that the administration got upset at the student newspaper often. “They would be upset on commentaries,” he said. “We did get the administration and security mad about things we uncovered.” He said that the head of security outright refused to speak to a student once because he worked for the Canyon Call.
Ehresman recalled the awards he won while working for the paper and seeing them placed on the newsroom’s walls. He was upset that no one else would be able to have the same experience anymore. “I learned so much because of the Canyon Call,” said Ehresman. “It was so rewarding. I felt so productive.”
He said the Canyon Call was not expensive to produce. Most of the issues were black and white and only 8-12 pages.
Craig Leener, part of the coalition of Save the Canyon Call, said when it came to getting rid of the newspaper, “to my knowledge there was no student input.”
The Signal, a local Santa Clarita newspaper, wrote an opinion piece called “Ourview: one cut schools can’t afford.” In this article they state that despite enrollment jumping 31 percent in the fall, the college was unable to fill its journalism classes and eliminated its award-winning student newspaper. It says that even though an online paper is replacing the print paper, it will be far from the same: “Think about it. You have different expectations from a news story in a newspaper than you have for a blog on the Internet. You expect accuracy. You expect balance. You expect a news story to quote credible sources and omit those without credibility.”
Not only was the paper discontinued but about five journalism classes were cut as well. President of the school’s Board of Trustees Joan MacGregor said The classes have always been under enrolled.
Instead of furloughing faculty this semester, College of the Canyon cut classes that were under enrolled. MacGregor explained the enrollment rate was so low because less students are able to get positions in print media. The school is writing a new curriculum for the journalism program that incorporates other kinds of media online.
“Younger people do not support print,” said MacGregor. “I’m not trying to silence anybody. We have no conflict with anybody. I think the print media is essential. I read it every morning.”
Mitjl Capet, assistant superintendent and vice president of instruction of the College of the Canyons, said the paper’s adviser Jim Ruebsamen retired. Now the school is moving the paper to an online version, something that Ruebsamen didn’t want to do before he retired because he wanted to finish his career there they way he had always been running it. Capet said that they have been working on the new curriculum for about two years, so it is not a spur of the moment decision. The new online version of the paper should be ready by February.Meanwhile students have no paper this semester.
“This is a transition and not a cancellation,” said Capet. “Our job is to prepare people for the real world, and not what was.”
The student newspaper not only benefited those majoring in journalism, but all students. On the Save the Canyon Call Web site, one student, Lynette Liberda wrote “Journalism is not only important for students who are majoring in journalism, it is important for all of the students at COC! If I had not participated in the Canyon Call, I would have never attended any school functions and realized what a great school we have. Being able to share that information through the photos I took and stories I wrote was truly fulfilling. We need our voice back, please give it to us.”
The Canyon Call is not the only student newspaper in California that has been eliminated. Dominguez Hills and Cerritos College in Norwalk have also shut down their papers. While Cerritos' paper was brought back after protests and petitions, Dominguez Hills still lacks a student voice.
When Ehresman was asked if he agreed that students were missing out on an important First Amendment opportunity he replied, “Yes, very much so.”
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