Gannett has “dismissed any suggestion it planned to conquer student journalism,” yet the U.S. media company, owner of USA Today, is taking heat from university newsrooms and journalism departments who say Gannett is trying to move in on the college newspaper market, running over student press freedom and the journalistic training grounds in its path.

“If The Coloradoan were to take over The Collegian, only Gannett would win,” an editorial from The Daily Nebraskan, the campus newspaper at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, stated, according to The Times.

Gannett owns two student newspapers in Florida (The FSView & Florida Flambeau at Florida State is owned by The Tallahassee Democrat and The Central Florida Future at the University of Central Florida is owned by Florida Today), both of which for-profit, despite the fact that most student newspapers across the United States are non-profit. And although Gannett spokeswoman Tara Connell told The Times that the company “is not looking to buy college newspapers,” the reasons for buying up college papers is pretty obvious.

“Media companies find college newspapers attractive properties for several reasons: operating costs are low because student labour is inexpensive, sometimes even free. Advertising is on the rise. And perhaps most important, the newspapers are read — frequently — by a young audience with relatively deep pockets,” The Times stated.

University newspapers don't encounter the overall industry market problems, as advertisers spend millions (US $30 million in 2006, and 15 percent more in 2007) on advertising in college papers, which hold a captive audience, as about 44 percent of undergraduate students read the student newspaper twice or more a week, according to a 2006 College Publisher survey.

In the case of The Collegian, Gannett has not yet submitted a proposal, but an advisory committee, made up of faculty and students, including a representative from the newspaper, has been formed, and held its first meeting last week, The Times reported.