Commercial rival sues Iowa State newspaper

Iowa State faculty members Gary G. Gerlach and Michael G. Gartner - a Pulitzer Prize recipient and former NBC News president - sued The Iowa State Daily last spring, claiming the paper created unfair advertising competition with the local paper, The Ames Daily Tribune. Gartner is now editor in chief of the Daily Tribune, and Gerlach serves as the publisher.

Both Gartner and Gerlach help teach journalism classes at Iowa State University.

Gartner and Gerlach "want us to confine part of the newspaper's advertising and stories to [the] campus, which is ridiculous," said Erin Payne, The Iowa State Daily opinion editor.

While Gartner and Gerlach are not suing for money, they are seeking to obtain further information regarding the newspaper's advertising scheme and to prevent the collegiate paper from soliciting off campus advertisements.

In the lawsuit, Gartner claimed the college paper violated the Iowa Open Meetings and Open Records Law.

This summer, a judge in an Ames trial court ruled the paper was indeed in violation of the law. The judge did not require The Iowa State Daily to pay attorneys' fees, however, stating he believed the college paper's Publications Board thought they were acting in accordance with the law.

The publication still may solicit advertising from the local community.

The litigation has caused mixed reactions among the faculty.

"Some [faculty members] believe The Daily's Publications Board was the aggressor," Payne said. "Others think the paper is being attacked by the owners of the Tribune."