news-record.com

About 50 students from N.C. A&T picketed the News & Record today, asking for favorable coverage to counter recent news reports on questionable spending at the university. They shouted:

"What do we want? We want positive press. When do we want it? Right now."

They paced the sidewalk fronting the paper at 200 E. Market Street for about an hour this afternoon.

David Street, student body president at A&T, said that he and some students and faculty members believe that the newspaper's reporting on internal and state audits of the university has been excessive.

"We just want to see fairness. If you're going to cover the bad stuff, then cover the positive stuff," Street said.

Several stories about the audits have appeared in the newspaper since members of the UNC Board of Governors discussed an audit at their January meeting.

John Robinson, editor of the News & Record, said that he believes the newspaper's treatment of news from the school has been balanced.

"I think that, by far, we run more stories that are positive than negative," Robinson said about coverage of A&T, mentioning a story on its ROTC program, which appeared on the front page of the paper Saturday, and one on its band, which appeared on the front page Monday.

Street acknowledged those stories, but said he believed that such stories should be more frequently reported.

"If you're going to cover the stuff that's bad, cover the positive stuff with the same vigor," he said.

Findings from the A&T audits included evidence of misused funds, poor internal controls, and allegations of nepotism and poor oversight. Auditors recommended a criminal investigation, which the Guilford County district attorney recently asked the State Bureau of Investigation to conduct.

Contact Gerald Witt at 382-8522, or gwitt@news-record.com