VU media deal targets 'Vanderbubble'

Excluding local newspaper deemed necessary to reduce campus insularity

Email | Print By Milt Capps

Dean Mark Bandas

This morning, Vanderbilt University launched a service to stimulate student readership of The New York Times and USA Today, after eliminating The Tennessean from the Collegiate Readership Program sponsored by The Tennessean's parent, Gannett Co.

The initiative is the latest in a series of efforts to increase Vanderbilt's diversity and broaden students' awareness of the world beyond the campus and its immediate environs – a sphere widely known as the "Vanderbubble."

The Tennessean's exclusion provided a bonus lesson in business pragmatics. Interviews with campus stakeholders make clear the move was driven by fear that increased Tennessean circulation on campus would result in less advertising in student-run media, particularly the independent newspaper, The Hustler, which receives no financial support from the university.

Before its snub, The Tennessean had participated in Vanderbilt's recent pilot of free-of-charge distribution on campus. However, Vanderbilt Associate Provost and Dean of Student Mark Bandas wrote in an e-mail to NashvillePost.com yesterday that "The Tennessean will not be included due to (1) lack of student interest during the pilot program, and (2) concerns about possible negative impact on advertising revenues of student media."

Ad revenues are the lifeblood of 14 media outlets operating under the umbrella of Vanderbilt Student Communications Inc., which has an annual budget of about $1 million. About 40 percent of that number is associated with the 120-year-old Hustler.

An arrangement for the fall semester has not yet been negotiated. Banda said funding will in future come from his office, from Vanderbilt Student Government and from the office of Vanderbilt Commons Dean Frank Wcislo. Another source said that Banda's office is paying the entire cost through April 22.

VSC Student Media Director Chris Carroll told NashvillePost.com yesterday he's sensitive to the issue of resisting the "free-enterprise model," but believes that "as a matter of equity," the university should not purchase papers from "one of the nation's largest corporations...while it allocates absolutely nothing for The Hustler — absolutely nothing!"

Carroll also had deeper concerns. He said yesterday that, if allowed to establish a greater footprint, The Tennessean might create a new tailored edition for its Vanderbilt audience. Carroll is also aware that Gannett has in recent years bought two campus newspapers that were run by for-profit companies and is reportedly exploring purchasing another paper that serves the Colorado State University community.

A bit more philosophical is Vanderbilt Student Communications Chairman Bruce Barry, a professor at the Owen Graduate School of Management. He said yesterday he has little doubt most faculty would encourage greater student news readership. Barry said he shares Carroll's concerns the program could "pose some risk to the viability of student media on campus," but warns the university should also "be cautious about the idea of subsidizing for-profit media, when it could be, at the same time, subsidizing student media."

Representatives of The Tennessean and Gannett/USA Today who are involved in education marketing have not yet responded to calls and e-mails asking for comment on the Vanderbilt CRP.

Asked for comment on the decision, Hustler Editor in Chief Elizabeth Middlebrooks told NashvillePost.com yesterday, "We, as a staff, we're really excited about the opportunity to have more national and international news [via] the New York Times and USA Today. Our main concern was having The Tennessean on campus."

"Because they're local, we sort of see them as our competition [for] advertising, news – basically everything." She added that during the pilot, student interest in The Tennessean "was pretty low."

Statistics provided NashvillePost.com by immediate-past Student Government President Cara Bilotta showed that an average of 145 copies of The Tennessean were taken each day during the recent pilot offering. During the same trial, a daily average 356 copies of the Times and 254 copies of USA Today were taken.

Now through April 22, the same numbers of the two papers will be in racks at Sarratt Student Center and at the university's new Commons Center.

Data provided NashvillePost.com suggest that in order to allow students "free" copies, Vanderbilt will pay 40 to 45 cents for each copy during the current one-semester deal, or less than $300 daily.