My name is Matt Lieber and I am the editor of MSU’s first, finest and only satirical news source, The Spartan Weekly. As you probably already gathered, I’m writing to urge you to reconsider that little non-compete policy you saw fit to implement.

The fact of the matter is that the Spartan Weekly, SpartanEdge.com and Purpose never even considered starting a competition with the State News, so any policy to counteract such a thing is a waste of your time and energy.

The State News has the distinction of being MSU’s largest and most influential media outlet. You’re in the key position to be the media leader, but it seems you’d rather lock yourselves in your new clubhouse and not let anyone else come in and play. If The State News is supposed to be of, for and by the students of Michigan State, then it should have their best interests in mind. You should be embracing and coordinating with other forms of media instead of condemning them.

Let me fill you in on a little detail that I think you really need to grasp…you’re not the New York Times, you’re The State News. You already don’t have the best reputation as a daily newspaper. In fact, most students read The State News as something to do between classes and get their “real” news somewhere else. You might as well just hand out a crossword puzzle with movie times and save yourself some printing costs. As I said before, you’re the biggest, but that doesn’t make you the best. If you’re happy with how things are right now, keep your little noncompete policy and smile at the fact that you’re beating up some Web sites in the infant stage of their development. But know this; we’re not going to let this go. I said we never intended to start a competition, but that doesn’t mean we’re afraid of one either.

Matt Lieber
Spartan Weekly
Editor in Chief

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