It's Owl Times, a new newspaper for FAU. But it won't compete with the old newspaper. It will complement it.
Along with two former University Press editors who are still in school, I'm launching an independent publication that covers all the good news at FAU.
Usually, off-campus publications are edgy, investigative, and attitude-laden. Not Owl Times.
On Friday afternoon, we began distributing the debut issue to administrators and students and explained our mission. Which is this...
For years, FAU officials have complained about their campus newspaper: The UP relishes negative news, it looks like a magazine and reads like an alternative weekly, it prints salacious stories laced with profanity.
As the UP's adviser for 12 years, I fought against both subtle and blatant attempts to control the UP's content. Now I'm fired and tired. So instead of fighting, I'm surrendering.
During my very first meeting with Brown in 2006, he told me and UP editor (now Owl Times staffer) Michele Boyet that he wanted to change the name of the newspaper. One of his ideas was "Owl Times."
Brown also said he desired a "traditional" campus newspaper that had multiple stories on the front page and covered more upbeat news, instead of focusing on one big and occasionally investigative cover story per week (which is what the UP does, and which has won awards in the past).
When I told Brown these were the editors' decisions, he neither agreed nor disagreed. "It's something we can talk about it," he said. "Nothing is set in stone."
I didn't say it, but I thought, "Yeah, some things are set in stone. Like the students deciding what goes into their student newspaper."
So Owl Times has an ulterior motive: If we give FAU administrators exactly what they want, they should give the UP the freedom it deserves. Why bully the UP when you can buddy up to Owl Times?
That's one reason the UP editors don't object to this weird idea. Other reasons include the twisted-but-true fact that Owl Times will only accept advertising the UP has already rejected. More on that next.
TOMORROW: FAU's first impression of its positive newspaper.
