The fall of 2006 marked a momentous change for student media at Vanderbilt. Our structure has been dramatically altered due to the convergence of some of our media groups, including The Vanderbilt Hustler. This process has also affected advertising. The former Hustler Advertising Office has changed into Student Media Advertising, an office independent of the Hustler charged with selling and administering ad placements for The Hustler, Versus Magazine, VTV and InsideVandy.com divisions. The Advertising Manager no longer sits on The Hustler editorial board, as was previously the case, and has final decision-making power over which placements are allowed into the products of our divisions and which are not. Individual divisions’ policies concerning their editorial content do not apply to advertising sold by my office.

All ad placements must meet a series of guidelines for inclusion. Insert advertisements must also meet a specific set of criteria beyond our basic stipulations. For example, potential placements for products, services or promotions that are illegal in the state of Tennessee or that violate U.S. Postal Service regulations will be rejected. The same is true for inserts that include more than one advertiser or do not specifically label themselves as advertising. In this regard, advertisements resembling editorial material must identify themselves as “Paid Advertisement” or “Advertising Supplement.” A full list of criteria can be found at www.vscmedia.org/advertising and is printed on the backs of all of our advertising contracts. The Advertising Manager is granted the discretion to interpret and apply these criteria.

The “Stop the Madness” insert, placed by the Human Life Alliance into Wednesday’s Hustler, went through a detailed vetting process as would any other potential placement or insert. After completing this process, I found that the insert met our advertising criteria sufficiently for inclusion.

It is important to keep in mind that all advertising will be slanted toward the advertiser’s viewpoint, whether it regards a product, service or idea. My office is not in the position to hinder an advertiser’s right to free expression so long as they meet each of our advertising criteria and deadlines for payment, etc. Again, Hustler editorial or opinion policies do not govern advertising, including inserts which resemble editorial material.

It is not the place of my office to critique the style of or opinions expressed within our advertisers’ placements to a level beyond that of our advertising criteria or to deny a placement for a reason other than those stipulated in our advertising contract. Furthermore, neither Student Media Advertising nor the divisions for which we sell specifically endorse the products, services or ideas included within advertising placements.

Our policy is to let our readers make decisions for themselves; we do not decide subjectively which viewpoints readers will see and which they will not. Ad space in The Hustler or in any other division of student media is a window into the Vanderbilt community which my office will not arbitrarily close for certain messages and then open for others for reasons other than those enumerated in our advertising criteria.

David Fotouhi ‘07
Advertising Manager
Student Media Advertising
Vanderbilt Student Communications, Inc.