Last week, The Mass Media published a twelve-page anti-abortion paid advertisement that, in retrospect, the editors regret.

The ad policy at this paper, however, is that advertisements will be run if the content of the ad does not break any laws or Mass Media guidelines, and the ad manager is not to discuss ads with the editorial board. This prevents the Editorial Board from trying to influence readers for or against an ad, as well as prevents potential ad revenue influencing the opinion of the board. Ads placed in this paper do not, in any way, reflect the views or opinions of The Mass Media Editorial Board.

The Editorial Board has voted to amend the advertising policy; in the future, the board will carefully review all controversial advertising content, including abortion material.

The Mass Media’s main agenda is to be an organ of free speech for students at UMB; we regret that this ad may have alienated students from this paper. The students who are producing this paper each week work hard to bring you objective news and reporting about UMB, the campus, and your education.

Unfortunately, this paper is dependent on ad revenue. The costs of payroll and printing every week, coupled with the declining amount of people who pay their waivable fee, puts The Mass Media in the difficult position of being forced to run ads with which we otherwise might not wish to be associated.

Ideally, all of this paper’s financial needs would be met by the funds received through students paying their waivable fee, which appears on the UMB tuition bill, enabling us to turn down ads at will.

Though many students do not see the value in supporting an independent student paper by paying their waivable fee, there are many who do see the importance of the work done by such a paper.

Only a student-controlled newspaper has the freedom to publish information about the school that might not otherwise be made public. Student newspapers play a crucial role in providing student-specific information for public analysis.

The Mass Media, however, cannot function as the students’ medium without the support of the students: your independent student newspaper needs you to pay your waivable fee. It’s the only way to keep this paper independent.