Space wasn’t THAT tight. So it seems to me that the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette coverage could have found space to mention the namesake of the University of North Carolina school of journalism. And that would be the unidentified “powerful donor” mentioned in the article, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Publisher Walter Hussman Jr., for whom the school was named after his promise of a $25 million gift over a span of many years. He was a key player in the tenure saga.
Local media found space. For example, from WRAL:
Walter Hussman, a major donor whose name is on UNC’s journalism school, had previously questioned Hannah-Jones, saying the 1619 Project wasn’t objective reporting, and he didn’t want the school dragged into the national controversy over it. He also privately expressed concerns to Hussman School of Journalism and Media administrators about hiring her.
Hannah-Jones criticized Hussman for not supporting her hiring, and he also faced pushback from professors in the program who claimed the episode damaged UNC-Chapel Hill’s reputation.
Also from Chapelboro.com, which sought a comment from Hussman, who declined to speak on the record:
Daniel Kreiss, a professor in the Hussman School and a principal researcher at the Center for Information Technology and Public Life, still has questions about donor guidelines and how Hussman may have received Hannah-Jones’ personnel and tenure file.
The D-G article happened to appear in the same two columns on Page 2A where the Democrat-Gazette prints Hussman’s “core values” daily, a statement that was supposed to be prominently posted at the UNC school as part of the deal struck for his gift. In the ensuing controversy, that posting hasn’t happened just yet.
Yours in the name of reporting “completely.”
PS: The D-G seems to have printed in full the AP article on the matter, except … The AP online article includes a hyperlink to an article identifying the “powerful donor” as Hussman. That link doesn’t appear in either the facsimile or online D-G reprint of the AP article.