The student-run media, The Daily Toreador and La Ventana, will maintain independent editorial management.
With approval from the Office of the Provost, The Daily Toreador, the student-run news organization at Texas Tech University, and La Ventana yearbook will realign under the College of Media & Communication beginning immediately.
Susan Peterson, director of Student Media, said the independent editorial and newsroom management model will continue to thrive within the College of Media & Communication, not only to support the First Amendment rights of students but also to further reinforce their development as socially responsible journalists following a news and information career path or for any student who desires to be a more effective global communicator.
"I see many positive opportunities for The Daily Toreador and La Ventana in areas of internships, recruiting, fundraising for scholarships and fellowships, attendance at collegiate media conferences and securing future stable funding sources for equipment and operating expenses,” Peterson said. "Our mission to provide information to the student body at large, as well as university communities, is imperative. I believe the realignment of The Daily Toreador and La Ventana into the College of Media & Communication will positively impact Student Media.”
Media & Communication Dean David D. Perlmutter is working with the Student Media staff to empower long-term planning for an expanded and more blended model to fit the direction of media industries.
"Texas Tech students will enter a converged and cross-platform world, no matter what careers they pursue in government, non-profits or industry, whether they are playwrights, accountants, mechanical engineers or social media managers,” Perlmutter said.
Perlmutter has asked Peterson and associate dean for undergraduate affairs Todd Chambers to create a task force composed of students, staff, faculty and alumni to make recommendations about how media production groups across campus can better share resources and projects. The task force will begin in September.
"We want to increase the involvement of students from outside journalism in student media – especially students in the social and physical sciences, arts and humanities,” Perlmutter said. "Student Media has and will serve all students at Texas Tech, especially considering the campus Quality Enhancement Plan's emphasis on building ‘global communicators.'”
"I'm excited about the opportunities this move offers for our students, for the staff of Student Media and for the faculty and staff in the College of Media & Communication,” said Texas Tech Provost Michael Galyean. "Our student newspaper and the yearbook are vital pieces of Texas Tech's history, and this new relationship will ensure their importance on our campus in the years ahead and provide new media outlets and experiences for our students.”
McKenzi Morris, The Daily Toreador editor-in-chief for the 2017-2018 academic year, will be the first editor under the realignment.
"Student Media focuses on giving students an opportunity to apply their skills in a real-world workplace while serving the Texas Tech community,” Morris said. "Working with the College of Media & Communication will allow our media to continue recording Texas Tech's history and informing the community to the best of our ability.”
The change will not adversely impact the employment of student reporters, photographers, videographers, editors, advertising staff and distribution personnel.
Student Media was under the Division of Student Affairs from 1973 to 2017. Prior to operating under Student Affairs, Student Media was under the journalism department from 1935 to 1959 and Student Life prior to the creation of Student Affairs.
The student newspaper and yearbook, two of Texas Tech's oldest traditions, began publication in 1925 as The Toreador and La Ventana.
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