Brandeis' decision to freeze advertising on WBUR-FM, the main focus of the most recent Board of Trustees meeting, has led the Union Senate to consider holding a student forum to debate the issue. Brandeis discontinued underwriting the Boston National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate due to concerns from alumni, trustees and friends of the University that NPR reporting on the current Middle East conflict is biased against Israel, President Jehuda Reinharz said.The advertisements for Brandeis programs, including the Heller School, the Graduate School for International Economics and Finance, and Continuing Education programs had "apparently been very successful in attracting students," Board of Trustees Secretary Dr. Carol Savietz '69 said. Reinharz said, "the WBUR ads played a role in recruitment, like any ads, but there is no evidence that by stopping them anything dramatic at all has happened. Applications keep coming in because of (the programs') reputation."

All Brandeis advertising is currently on hold due to an internal Public Affairs departmental audit, according to Dennis Nealon, director of Media Relations. "The audit could say, all (bias) issues aside, we don't think (WBUR-FM) is the best place to advertise," Nealon said.

Union Senate Representatives to the Board of Trustees Ebone Bishop '04 and Jonathan Sclarsic '03, were present for most of the Oct. 3 and 4 Board of Trustees meetings when the NPR advertising issue was discussed. "There were no trustees that publicly spoke against Reinharz's decision, but there were questions from the trustees to Reinharz concerning his final decision, specifically his rationale that led to the decision," Bishop said.

Sclarsic said that neither he nor Bishop spoke about the issue at the meeting, "because we didn't know too much about (it)." "We have to see student response and report it to the trustees and Reinharz before the next meeting," he said.

Following the Board of Trustees meeting, Sclarsic said that he and Bishop reported back to the Union Senate about the NPR advertising discussions. Senate Communications Director Marci Surkes '03 said the Union Senate Executive Board then discussed the issue at their meeting, and decided to plan a moderated student forum about journalistic objectivity with regards to the Middle East conflict, which Reinharz would be invited to attend. "To the community at large, the consensus is that we are a Jewish school, and by pulling NPR ads, we are making a large political statement," Surkes said.

Student Union President Ben Brandzel '03 said he believes, "a process of dialogue and research" needs to occur. "Reinharz seems willing to facilitate discussion. I think that if the students come forward in large numbers with their opinion, it will be listened to," he said. "There should have been more public discourse before the decision was made," and he suggested an all-campus e-mail or community meeting could have been arranged.

Brandeis faculty members also have expressed opinions about accusations of NPR bias. Professor Michael Socolow (AMST) said a student forum would be constructive. "Although I'm not familiar with the specifics of NPR's reporting, I would say that the question of balance and accuracy of reporting on the Middle East is one of the most important debates in journalism today," Socolow said. "I think it is legitimate for anybody to withdraw funding or commercial sponsorship from any news organization they disagree with."

WBUR-FM spokesperson Mary Stohn said Brandeis and five other underwriters have discontinued their financial support in the last year. She added the station has lost "as much as $2 million" due to advertisers and donors, such as Brandeis, withdrawing support because of accusations of bias. "WBUR-FM sincerely regrets Brandeis' decision. We disagree with the premise on which it was based, and hope they will review their decision and return to WBUR-FM as an underwriter," Stohn said. "We absolutely have pro-Israel views on programs (in addition to pro-Palestinian ones). This is the finest journalism on air, and is without reproach," she added.

Professor David Gil (HS) said that Israel supporters tend to view a lot of news reports as biased. "I don't agree with Brandeis' policy, because I think NPR is one of the best media available, and we should not sabotage its worth ... when the BBC covers the Middle East (on NPR), they realize the major Israeli policy is of dominating and oppressing the Palestinian people. They don't hide this," Gil said.

Reinharz said the University is not seeking to censor NPR. "Any TV station, any radio station can report how they want. Brandeis, however, does not have an obligation to support a TV station or radio station if the reporting is biased," he said. "Were any group treated unfairly -- it's not just Palestinians and Israelis -- in programs that we advertise on, I would do the exact same thing."

Meanwhile, the Union Senate is continuing to investigate the issue, Brandzel said. He said he encourages all students to voice their opinions to both himself and Reinharz via e-mail, and added "we will be continuing to explore ways to create opportunity for discussion in the future.