By James Compton
Classes at Canada's third graduate journalism degree program won't begin until next September. But already critics are asking questions about the University of British Columbia's relationship to its sole corporate media benefactor. James Compton wades into the debate.
IT WILL BE ROUGHLY NINE MONTHS BEFORE classes begin at Canada's
third graduate journalism degree program, but already questions have been
asked about the school's relationship to its sole corporate media benefactor.
The University of British Columbia announced the creation of the Sing Tao
School of Journalism in July 1996. The school's first director, Donna Logan,
began her appointment Aug. 1, 1997. And a few weeks later, construction
was completed on a three - storey building that will house the school on
UBC's picturesque Point Grey campus in Vancouver. But, while Logan searches
for the school's two faculty members (the closing date for applications
was Dec. 1, 1997) and prepares curriculum for the fall 1998 opening, some
members of the university's Senate have raise d troublesome questions about
the propriety of naming an academic program after a corporate donor.
We don't have any departments or academic units named after a sponsor
or benefactor on campus. We have buildings, which are fine. We have endowed
chairs, which are fine, but not an academic unit. We don't have the Molson
school of forestry, or whatever. It is an unfortunate precedent to start
that," said Robert Schutz, a member of the UBC Senate and sponsor of a
motion to strip the name Sing Tao from the journalism school's title.
The motion was defeated by a slim margin: 27 to 21. And I think if
it hadn't gone as far as it had the Senate would have voted it (naming
of the school after Sing Tao) down," said Schutz, who believes there is
widespread opposition to the idea among members of Senate. " I mean, if
there had been a notice of motion that said we were explorin g the possibility
of doing this I think it would have been voted down. But I think a lot
of the senators thought the president and the dean of art s have already
promised that they would name the school the Sing Tao School of Journalism
and they couldn't go back on their promise. So I think it was water under
the bridge by then."
A joint Board of Governors/Senate committee has since been struck to
develop a policy on the use of major donors' names. Committee chair Philip
Resnick is one of the people opposed to the naming. He calls the Sing Tao
situation "crass." "Aren't there limits?" he asks. "Isn't there a point
at which one has to say that certain things are for sale and certain things
are not?" He wonders whether the university would have approved a mor e
well - known donor like newspaper publisher Conrad Black. The Sing Tao
donation followed a long search by the university, stretching back to the
early `80s, for funding to support a new graduate journalism program. During
an ear of government cutbacks in which university budgets were becoming
tighter and tighter, that funding wasn't realized until a deal was struck
between the company and former UBC President David Strangway. So - called
"corporate partnerships" with Canadian post - secondary institutions have
been on the rise in the `90s. One high - profile example is Toronto's York
University, which is soliciting corporations to put their names on courses
for a $10,000 fee. Corporate sponsorship of individual university classrooms
is also a common sight on many campuses, including Simon Fraser University's
Harbour Centre in downtown Vancouver, which boasts such rooms as the Fletcher
Challenge Theatre. As well, the universities of Toronto and Western Ontario,
along with York, have al l renamed their business programs after generous
donors. Critics argue the shift to private funding has led to the development
of have and have - not faculties. Hardest hit are the arts and humanities,
whose programs don't have an immediate business application. Critics fear
a reliance on private funds will significantly change the focus of research.
Sing Tao, which translated means star island, is the largest Chinese -
language newspaper in Canada. The Hong Kong - based company publishes in
Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Hong Kong, Britain, Australia and the U.S.
The company, controlled by newspaper baroness Sally Aw, whose family made
millions after founding the Tiger Balm empire, is a multinational wit h
deep pockets. its Sing Tao Foundation established a generous endowmen t
fund to pay for the cost of the new building and establish the school's
initial operating fund. The total size of the gift has not been made public,
but the Vancouver Sun has reported the initial sum to be clos e to $3 million.
Sing Tao is providing additional money to pay for staff salaries and additional
expenses, while other donors will be solicite d in the future. Aw wants
to promote high journalistic standards at a time when the quality of journalism
is seen to be slipping, says Bob Yip, city editor of th e Vancouver edition
of Sing Tao. "Her idea is to promote journalism everywhere."
Donations to non - profit institutions are not uncommon in Chinese
business culture. "Gift giving is an important part of traditional and
modern Chinese culture," according to Jan Walls, a China scholar and expert
in international communication at Simon Fraser University. Walls says investment
in education has been one of the primary values of Chinese culture over
the centuries. "The main thing is to be able to make a gift to a non -
profit institution. Business has not been the orthodox route to fame and
honor in traditional Chinese culture. So, you could say that being seen
as a good corporate citizen is especially important from the traditional
Chinese perspective, because there is not that much honor in doing business,
per se." Nevertheless, it is common marketing practice for businesses to
donat e money to concerns which are somehow related to their main purposes
or interests, according to Charles Weinberg, who teaches marketing at UBC.
He says Sing Tao will gain name recognition by having its name attached
to the school, but Weinberg cautions "the benefit of that name recognition
would be unclear." Robert Schutz, who teaches in UBC's Department of Human
Kinetics, doe s not question the integrity of Sing Tao nor the university
administrators who put the endowment package together. However, he is worried
the deal may be the beginning of a slippery slope.
I know nothing about Sing Tao," says Schutz. "I hope I can assume enough
integrity there that they would not try to interfere in academic matters.
And the university would not permit any outside agency to dictate wha t
or how things should be taught. But that could happen down the road with
other units, other corporations, if this kept going." Any suggestion that
Sing Tao will have control over academic matters is dismissed by Shirley
Neuman, UBC's dean of arts. Neuman points out that endowed chairs and speakers
already exist on campus and at other reputable universities. She says academic
control is never included in the gift arrangement. "The reporting line
for the Sing Tao School of Journalis m is through myself, the dean, and,
of course, to the vice - president academic provost and the president,"
she said. "There is no direct reporting line to Sing Tao." The school,
like other professional programs at UBC, will have a steering committee
composed of faculty members and some members of the professional community,
including one member from Sing Tao, out of about a dozen o r so. But, says
Neuman, that person will not have any directive power. "The endowment deed
says that Sing Tao has the right to be consulted but not to direct." At
work in her newly finished director's office, Logan is busy surveying other
journalism and communication programs from around North America , sifting
out what she feels are the best attributes of each institution. Logan,
a veteran journalist with The Montreal Star and the CBC, sound s genuinely
thrilled with the daunting challenge of building a topnotch J - school
program from scratch. Her goal is to use the university's expertise from
other faculties, in both the sciences and the arts, to expose th e 25 graduate
students expected next fall to a wide range of interdisciplinary research
combined with practical writing experience. Specific courses have not yet
been developed, but Logan says an emphasis will be placed on Pacific Rim
issues, rethinking journalism practices , and critical thinking skills.
Logan believes many of today's journalists would benefit from better training
in research and investigative work. "We tend to look in very traditional
places for stories," she said. "And the really big stories elude us because
we are so bogged down in process."
One of the things I'd like to do at the school is use it as a stimulant
for journalistic issues," said and enthusiastic Logan. "Either through
a newspaper, journal, or even conferences, chairs, speakers, that sort
of thing. Because I think there's really room for that in this country."
But will the still - unnamed school journal publish critical research of
Sing Tao newspapers? Yes, says Logan, who adds she wouldn't have accepted
the job if she felt there were any strings attached to the funding. "We
will be analyzing all papers in Canada including the Sing Tao," she said.
"I think that is fair game." Frankly, I have a hard time believing that,"
says James Winter of the University of Windsor (Ontario). Winter, the author
of Democracy's Oxygen: How Corporations Control the News, believes the
Sing Tao gift will have a "chilling effect" on research. "The tendency
of human nature is that you don't bite the hand that feeds," he said. "And
so, why do research on them (Sing Tao) when you can do research on someone
else, or in so many other areas. I think the likelihood of them doing critical
research on that company is minimal." Winter adds he believes a "chill"
could extend t o research on other news corporations which could be viewed
as potentia l future donors. Philip Resnick, who teaches in UBC's department
of political science, agrees. "You're aware of who is behind this major
contribution and I can't help but think this is going to inhibit, to some
degree, your willingness to be as free about things as you might have been."
Resnick won't predict what the university committee's findings will be.
But he says a debate will likely be held on how UBC should distinguish
between the naming of physical structures (such as buildings) and academic
programs. He says the committee's report should be finished by February
or March. But, he stressed, the use of the Sing Tao name is a done deal
which won't be revisited.
James Compton is a doctoral candidate/journalist at Simon Fraser
University's school of communication (now on faculty at Western Ontario
-- Marc)