Morning News bins removed from campus
The Dallas Morning News distribution bins were taken off campus at the same time the Fort Worth Star-Telegram began providing free newspapers.
By Emily Turner
Staff Reporter

Officials from The Dallas Morning News said they are frustrated their TCU circulation has declined after the university prohibited the newspaper from distributing in metal bins on campus.

The publication also was not allowed to participate in a program that distributes free copies of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The New York Times and USA Today.

“In all of Texas, TCU is the only school we do not have access to,” said Kelly Roberts, the circulation director for the Morning News. “We received a message through customer service we needed to remove the racks right around the start of school.”

Roberts added that the Morning News is distributed at the University of Texas at Arlington in a similar readership program.

Don Mills, vice chancellor of student affairs, said metal newspaper bins were removed from campus drop sites at the beginning of the semester because they were not aesthetically appealing. Students wanting to read the publication can receive subscriptions through the mail, he said.

Mills said the university is paying the Star-Telegram $40,000 this year to distribute the three newspapers in drop sites around campus. He said the university turned down a Morning News offer at the beginning of the semester to distribute its newspaper on campus for free because a deal had already been made with the Star-Telegram in March.

“Since we are trying to make the program manageable, we went with these three papers,” Mills said.

He said that the university wanted to include a local paper in the readership program and because the Star-Telegram was chosen in a survey as the most widely read local publication last spring, it was the obvious choice.

When asked to release a copy of the survey, Mills referred the Skiff to the Star-Telegram. Newspaper officials could not be reached for comment.

Mills said that he wants the Morning News to be available to students, but the bins appearance “detracts from the campus.”

Journalism department chairman Tommy Thomason said the Morning News should more accessible to students to promote an open market place.

“To tell The Dallas Morning News that the newspaper cannot be sold, especially for some sort of cosmetic reason, is a decision the administration should certainly re-visit,” he said.

Roberts said he is continuing discussions with the university to try to get his publication back on campus.

“We are trying to move forward and give students a choice between products,” Roberts said. “We are going to be adamant with getting papers to readers.”

One such effort allows Morning News subscribers to receive the newspaper by mail, but Roberts said these subscribers must pay an extra fee for delivery and the newspaper will be a few days late.

Although Mills said the readership program aims to provide a variety of local and national news, one student expressed concern that local news is being overlooked by not including the Morning News.

Kate Bowie, a junior psychology major, said it is unfair that the university provides other local and national publications, but secludes a nationally recognized paper like the Morning News. She also said the Morning News is a local paper and should be distributed on campus.

“Dallas is considered a major city in the United States,” Bowie said. “There might be important news in Dallas I should know about.”

The university will not want to modify the readership program before it has an opportunity to judge the program’s success, Mills said.