Janese Heavin of the Columbia Daily Tribune in Missouri reports additional details of why the Society of American Business Editors and Writers members decided to leave the University of Missouri for Arizona State University.
Heavin writes, “No one spoke on behalf of keeping the program at MU, said Scott Newman, a member of the SABEW task force that considered the proposals.
“‘The proposals from Arizona and North Carolina were spectacular,’ said Newman, who works for Bloomberg News. ‘It’s amazing how hard they both worked on them. Missouri’s proposal was basically a one-page afterthought.’
“MU never was asked to submit a new proposal, only an outline of what it has provided the group over the past 25 years, said Dean Mills, dean of the School of Journalism. MU did not offer any extra incentives to entice the group to stay here because MU also serves a number of other media associations, Mills said.
“SABEW staff and board members did not specifically say why the group wanted to leave MU but indicated irresolvable differences. ‘By and large, over 25 years, it’s worked out well for us,’ said outgoing President Bernie Kohn. ‘But honestly, there were some operative restrictions on us at Missouri at times that made things a little difficult for us to run as an independent, not-for-profit organization. There were issues, and efforts were made to work them out, but it just did not appear they were going to get worked out the way they needed to.’
“Kohn, investigations editor for The Baltimore Sun, declined to discuss details, citing legal and personnel issues.”
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