The final finalist for assistant director of student media was Michael Douglas, a former professor at Florida Memorial University near Miami. So why does he want to work at FAU?
"The programs at Florida Memorial are specifically broadcast and public relations. They don't have a foundation for their programs in print," he said of the private college of 1,800 students. "So I said to myself, this is a good opportunity to work with an administration that has established media."
One of the first questions from the search committee came from journalism professor Bob Bailyn...
When you had your telephone interview, you said you were aware of some difficulties with student media here recently. The comment you made then was that some of these difficulties were basically a matter of "transition." Do you still hold to that view?
"That happens within any industry, transition is going to happen," Douglas said. "So you have to be able to adapt. It happens in higher ed. You basically have to go where the market is going and the decision that administration is making –"
Bailyn interrupted, "So you see this as a downsizing?"
"No, it's a transition. Transition. Downsizing is a different word. You're getting smaller."
Bailyn was flummoxed. "Well, I fail to understand. If somebody loses a position, other people are upset about it, and people are threatened, that's a transition?"
UP editor Karla Bowsher jumped in, "Can I interject? I'm curious how much you knew about the situation when you made that comment?"
"Be specific," Douglas replied curtly.
"When you were asked on the phone what you knew of our current climate here, you said you read a newspaper and based on that, you talked about life and transition and change."
"Well, just doing a Google search and reading some things, they talked about a transition that happened, a couple people had been let go. That's just a generic search."
Confused, Bailyn tried a different approach: "How would you get beyond the tensions? What approach would you take?"
Douglas answered in true adminispeak...
You have to see where all the different mediums are – where they want to go in TV, where they want to go in radio, where they want to go online, where they want to go in print, and come up with a goal and start working toward it. Because you can't advance if you continue dealing with the past. What's done is done.
Karla then took her time to ask a very specific quesion, hoping to get a specific answer...
We've come to a consensus we're not going to find someone who's expert in all three media outlets. We've also come to the consensus we need someone who has more than mediocre experience in two of them. And as a representative of the newspaper, I count 23 instances of the word "television" or "TV" on your resume. I have to dig to find any professional print experience. So I'm wondering what you have to offer us?
A former TV reporter, Douglas conceded he had never written for a professional newspaper – which, frankly, is fine by me and everyone I know on the search committee.
When you recognize your limitations, you can defer to the judgments of others while simultaneously learning from them. But Douglas considers himself perfectly qualified to advise the University Press or any other print publication.
"OK, again, I have two degrees," Douglas told Karla testily. "My bachelor's of journalism at the University of Texas is a foundation in print. When I was at Northwestern University, we had a one-year intensive program. Your first two quarters are in print."
Then he dismissed Karla with this stunner...
I also have a respect for print. I understand print, and I can write print – even for my fraternity, which I serve as a reporter for. So I know how to write print.
That's confusing. (His fraternity?) And it's arrogant. But what's really horrifying is that Douglas expects the UP editors to seek his approval before embarking on controversial stories. More on that next.
TOMORROW: Douglas endorses prior review.
