Oh, the trials of being a target market. If we could release ourselves into abject consumerism without suffering the pangs of conscience or the jabs of our social-minded peers, life would be simpler. The latest temptation, as vices go, seems remarkably close to virtue. CUP argues that free dailies will lower readership levels of student papers. The latter claim is troublesome.
Student publications provide aspiring journalists and writers with an audience.
They also serve as a counter to information provided by administrative and student government sources, both of which rival corporate public relations for sheer propaganda. Students are best served by a broad selection of available media. The argument that it is bad to have free dailies because it dilutes the readership of student papers offends very elemental principles of free expression. Students should not be indirectly forced to read campus rather than mainstream media through restrictions upon available outside voices. The economic argument is more compelling.