OPINION: UT-Tyler Must Abolish Ban On Newspaper Distribution

("DXO Newspaper Collection" by Daniel X. O'Neil via Flickr)

On Tuesday, I distributed flyers for my startup newsletter across the street from UT-Tyler because a new university rule prohibits me from distributing anything other than “not-for-profit” literature on-campus.

According to The Manual of Policy and Procedures (MOPP), “No person…may distribute…on campus any publication operated for profit.” (MOPP 6-402)

Now, my new publication has no revenue right now, should my circulation grow large enough, then I definitely hope to support it with paid advertising just as every other news publication has done from the dawn of time. So, though my publication does not produce a profit, my way of operation is definitely not “not-for-profit”. So in this case, the university bars me from distributing literature by this definition. 

In 2019, The 86th Texas Legislature enacted Senate Bill 16 which affirmed a public university as a traditional public forum. Though I can still speak in outdoor areas on-campus or perhaps even hold a sign on university property, in my view, the university ceases to be a traditional public forum when it prohibits basic speech activity (such as the distribution of free literature) that would traditionally be acceptable in a public forum. 

I believe this Not-For-Profit rule is unproductive and that the university should remove it from its policy. 

Historically, the university made an exception to its rule about distribution of publications with paid advertising. It allowed paid advertising in publications “primarily devoted to bona fide editorial content distinct from the paid advertising.” In other words, publications with the traditional journalistic revenue model, such as the way newspapers and magazines have operated for centuries. 

However, the university now prohibits free journalistic literature supported by the traditional revenue model. Only publications that promote not-for-profit organizations’ views or paid advertising for a 501(c)(3) organization may be distributed thanks to the new rule.

Admittedly, newspaper activity can be messy and very few people today will say they trust the media. Nevertheless, newspapers and journalistic endeavors have historically been the means for informed constituencies to take active parts in their destiny in civil society. Their information dissemination has been indispensable to the cause of a community’s self-determination and self-governance.

The same goes for the student constituency at UT-Tyler. These students need to know about the important news and events in their campus community so that they can fully participate in their interests while at university. 

In other words, they need to know about campus crime, student government’s representation, university policy changes and other topics important to stakeholder activity. Without widespread dissemination of this information, students are largely unable to support their own interests and to participate in their self-determination within the community. 

So while newspapers may be inconveniences to university administration, they and other types of media outlets are important to the student body’s collective health and interests as a constituency. 

UT-Tyler should not limit literature distribution to only not-for-profit publications. Rather, it should remove this rule and return to its previous tolerance of all publications. 

I am disappointed to see the new rule on Not-For-Profit literature. I hope UT-Tyler will uphold the fullest expression of its claim to a traditional public forum and will support newspapers as mechanisms that promote students’ inherent interests in information. The university should abolish its Not-For-Profit rule and by return to its previous tolerance of all forms of journalistic enterprise. 

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X: @Jhescock12

Feature Image: "DXO Newspaper Collection" by Daniel X. O'Neil via Flickr

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