Congratulations Honorary Advisor Wickstrom

Susan Wickstrom, Student Media's adviser until this July, was nominated for and will receive the First Freedom Award for 2008 from the Greater Oregon Professional Chapter of the Society for Professional Journalism (SPJ). The award recognizes individuals and groups who have done something exemplary in the service of the First Amendment and will be given to Wickstrom on Saturday, May 31 at the Oregon Zoo.

Wickstrom served as the Student Media adviser at Western Oregon University from 2001 till recently when her contract was not renewed. According to the Oregonian, who quoted Mark Weiss, Western's executive vice president, as saying "officials can't comment on Wickstrom because it's a personnel issue. But [Weiss] did say he wants a journalism adviser who 'understands both the responsibility to report factual information in an open press and the need to protect the privacy of individuals.'"

"The adviser must be accountable as a role model and in helping students grow," Weiss said. "An individual who serves as the university newspaper adviser must be able to recognize the distinction and be able to advise students about where the boundary lies."

Wickstrom is a professional writer who has worked extensively in Oregon with such publications as the Willamette Week and Oregonian, as well as national publications. Wickstrom is a senior editor for Bear Deluxe magazine, a national, independent environmental magazine dedicated to publishing significant works of reporting, creative nonfiction, literature, visual art and design.

Wickstrom received a B.A. in English/Writing at Western Washington University and an M.A. in Communications from Stanford University.

The Greater Oregon Chapter of the SPJ's mission is to provide an effective means for Northwest journalists to fight for the First Amendment and open government, improve journalistic standards, recognize excellence and encourage the communicators of tomorrow.

The National Society for Professional Journalism publishes an industry-accepted code of ethics that the Journal currently uses and was operating under when the "secure files" were found on the university network.

Western's sanctioned Panel of Free Press & Speech investigation concluded that the "Journal should have a defined code of ethics available to all concerned. Among other aspects, it should cover the acquiring of information that might violate university policy. Training on that code should be conducted each year. The advisor and editors also should acquaint themselves with media organizations that specialize in ethics and can help the staff work through ethics problems."

In a presentation on diversity at the Journal given to the Pacific Northwest Association of Journalism Educators, Wickstrom said, "I truly believe [ethics are] the bottom line in journalism. If there's one thing we give our students, it's to convey the importance of being ethical. Anyway, having a strong code of ethics led to objective reporting. And that sounds so simplistic and basic, but that's where we needed to go to start over."

"A code of ethics leads to responsible reporting, which leads to readers' trust and respect, which leads to courageous stories, which leads to attracting a diverse group of people."

Susan, you are missed. You are our role model. •