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In the Spotlight: Cameron Henderson, Publisher, Northwestern Art Review

February 8, 2010 by Dan

Eight Northwestern University students. A “cheap pizza joint.” Spirited conversation about a shared love of art and architecture. An idea for a publication whose aim would be nothing less than to “provide a forum for greater exchange among an expanding community of students who devote their time to studying, thinking and writing about art.”  The Northwestern Art Review was born.

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Cut to three years later.  2010.  NAR 3.0.  Two words on the cover of the current issue say it all, talking about both the art world and the publication’s future, “Now What?”  It is a question NAR publisher Cameron Henderson is sweating- a situation only troublesome because Henderson happens to be allergic to his own sweat.

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Henderson, 22, now an NU senior, was at the pizza joint three years ago.  The history and African studies double major has been instrumental in NAR’s evolution and success.  He has seen immense readership growth for the online journal, along with burgeoning crowds and dynamism at related campus events. The pub’s profile is high- and a majority of its staffers will soon be leaving/graduating.  As Henderson told North By Northwestern, “We’re really at crossroads right now. The last three founding members have sought to make NAR more cemented and sustained on campus. We’re at a place right now where I feel comfortable leaving the organization this year in the hands of others, but there are just so many possibilities for our direction in the future.”

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Below, in an exclusive chat with CMM, Henderson shares a few thoughts about the past, present, and future of NAR and his own artistic passions.

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Cameron Henderson is the current publisher and a founding member of Northwestern Art Review.

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Write a six-word memoir of your Northwestern Art Review experience.

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College art critics?  We are online.

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Standout NAR memory.

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During the first year of the Northwestern Art Review’s creation the founding members embarked on our first season of programming.  We secured funds to pay for two buses to charter students from Northwestern’s campus to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago’s opening party for a Jenny Holzer exhibition.  We fought for funds, worked in conjunction with the MCA, and prepared for what we thought would be a great event.  However, as the buses departed for the museum, I looked from my seat to see only about 20 people on buses capable of carrying 100 students to our event.  Most of the attendees were the journal’s staff.  Thus came the epiphany: There is a long long way to go.

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Now the Northwestern Art Review is an established organization commanding crowds of 150 to 200 people for our events.  In just three years we have seen our readership increase 20 fold and our presence in the art community of Northwestern and Chicago become ever more dynamic.  That first event and the inherent difficulty of creating an academic journal have not been forgotten.  It is now a marker of how far we have come and more importantly of the further growth the Northwestern Art Review is capable of.

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What does the current issue, NAR 3.0, offer interested readers?

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The most recent edition is undoubtedly the most cohesive and polished journal we have published yet.  NAR 3.0 takes aim at the eternal question of the value and purpose of art.  This is a question that has haunted artists for centuries. However, the current era for artists is one even more daunting: There is a seemingly boundless amount of freedom coupled with an extreme pressure to distinguish one’s practice from that of one’s peers.  As my editor Elliot Reichert has said, “Of course, artists of every age have grappled with the fundamental questions of the value and purpose of art, but never with such a self-conscious awareness of the history of art, its social functions, and its potential for significantly impacting the lived experience at a juncture when it appears to have both everywhere and nowhere to go.”  Art and publishing are at a similar crossroads and this departure from the status quo is something NAR and the most relevant artists of today are exploring.

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Where does your love of art come from?

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I have always possessed an inherent fascination with color, texture, and the other characteristics of invigorating design.  At a young age I did not realize that my interests could be summed up as an interest in art and design.  Rather, new basketball shoes were not only pragmatic purchases to assist in my passion for sport but were adventures in architecture and craftsmanship. Cars were loved not simply for the power and vigor found in the engine but for the strength and beauty found in the lines of the car’s grill.  Simply put, I have always had a fervent attraction for aesthetic endeavors.  Additionally, I have been very fortunate to have parents who have not only encouraged my pursuit of the arts but have been passionate examples themselves.  Museums have always been places that we have visited together and art, music, theater and more have all been abundantly discussed.

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NAR is at the forefront of art journals moving online.  What are the advantages of the online medium for a publication like NAR?

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When the Northwestern Art Review was first created three years ago publishing was yet to be in the doldrums that it is in today.   However, being that NAR was just born and we had to create a sustainable business model, we were forced to completely analyze all costs and options objectively without prior precedent. We examined the costs of publishing on paper thoroughly.  For the level of image quality that we deemed necessary the costs were completely out of reach.  For the kind of readership we were striving for, and most importantly the quality of appearance, we would have had to raise roughly $15,000 just for our first edition.  We had about $2,000 in our coffers to start.  Thus, the online format not only became attractive but a necessity.

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When NAR was first founded the general sentiment was that as we became more relevant nationally we would begin printing on paper.  However, now as NAR is more established the benefits of existing online are now fully apparent. Firstly and most importantly, we are capable of exhibiting only the most high-resolution images for the journal.   The artist’s work is done much more justice on the glossy screen of a MacBook than on newspaper quality paper. Furthermore, publishing online has enabled us to reach a much broader audience then if we were disseminating paper copies.  Our readership is international and this would have been a foolish dream if we were using a printing press.

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Finally, functioning as an Internet based publication allows us to incorporate many more features than if we were publishing a journal quarterly.  We have an active blog, serve as the epicenter for undergraduate criticism, and use the myriad of social networking sites to promote our work.  We are more significant today within the art community than we ever would have thought possible simply because we are accessible online.

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What is the most challenging part of running a student art journal?

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Undoubtedly the most difficult aspect of leading the Northwestern Art Review is establishing a dedicated and consistent reader base.  Furthermore, since we are publishing an academic journal, we have to abide by a higher standard of scholarship.  Not only do we need to attract readers by publishing exciting and pertinent information, we have to satisfy the academic portion of our readership that demand only the most immaculate scholarship.  Thus, we are forced to confront a dual-natured readership. However, this is an exciting challenge.  The blending of academic art criticism and more general art enthusiasm creates a product that is applicable to all.

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You wake up in ten years.  Where are you and what are you doing?

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I will be serving as an attorney specializing in the intellectual property aspect of artwork. I will be working on a daily basis with artists, publishing houses, museums, and creative agencies.   Such a job would enable me to pursue the myriad of interests I possess all which are focused on the beauty of artistic practices.  Furthermore, I will be contributing essays to publications like Art Forum or Art in America as a fresh voice presenting a different perspective on the art market and its trends.  Most importantly, I will be working in a field that I am passionate about and will be surrounding myself on a daily basis with the most invigorating and original individuals possible.

Posted in College Media, Journalism, Journalist Spotlight, Magazine Journalism, New Media | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

College Publisher Suffers from Malicious Hack Attack

February 7, 2010 by Dan

As undoubtedly many student newspaper staffers now already know, the main servers for the uber-influential and widely-used College Publisher online hosting service suffered a major security breach in the middle of last week.

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As a trusted source confirmed to me, “The site was hacked Wednesday night and people started deleting database and archive files for lots of student publications. It was a huge attack that caused many problems for student publications. . . . The site is back up, their Web site redesign is back, but a lot of their recent improvements were wiped out entirely.”

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A statement from College Publisher defined the hack job as a denial-of-service attack, noting, “In essence, this is basically a malicious attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users. . . . Fortunately the front end of the sites continued to serve without interruption, but the admin area was rendered inactive (resulting in newspapers inability to log in and post new content). . . . Since about midnight on February 3rd, our developers have worked to verify the database’s integrity.   By working through the night, we recovered the data from the database and learned that no data was lost or compromised, but the structure of the database remained in need of significant repair.”

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The speed with which the CP support team has sprung into action and the smart decision to provide public updates on the homepage is impressive.  As of now, it appears it will simply mean a few more hiccups for student press staffers logging in and a mountain of work by the CP tech gurus, but no permanent harm.  If you serve on or advise a student pub that has been affected or have some knowledge about what’s going down, additional information is appreciated…

Posted in College Media, Journalism, New Media, Student Newspaper | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

Optimist Student Newspaper First to be iPad-Friendly: Huge Step or So What?

February 5, 2010 by Dan

The Optimist student newspaper at Abilene Christian University is promoting itself as the first campus publication worldwide that will be iPad-friendly.

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As the U.S. News & World Report’s fantastic Paper Trail blog noted in the post that broke this story: “The gadget will be available in 60 days, and a team of faculty and student researchers is planning for the Optimist to be ready by then. The Optimist wants to expand its reach on campus, where it already publishes a print and an online product in addition to making content available via an iPhone application.”

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The quick innovation call-to-arms for the paper and J&MC department at ACU is admirable.  A few bigger picture questions:

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1) If carried out successfully, is this moon landing, one giant leap for collegemediakind territory? Does this ascend the Optimist into the student media innovation heavens, alongside such luminaries as Justin Hall (first blogger), Jennifer Ringley (first lifecaster), and The Tech at MIT (first newspaper online)?  Or is it a bit less exciting- like the student publication that can claim the first Twitter account or the first video uploaded to YouTube?

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2) Is an iPad push premature?  And with student news teams perennially understaffed and overworked, is this the proper use of students’ time and the school’s support and resources?  Or is it more an innovation-for-innovation’s-sake PR campaign?  One perceptive commenter on the Optimist story announcing its iPad intentions argued, “This is such a waste of time.  It’s just Apple’s attempt to cash in on its followers. The Optimist should spend its resources improving its journalism instead of embracing pointless technology.  Instead of being first in time . . . how about being first in quality?  That is something to brag about.”

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My take: Good luck!  For the sake of their peer publications and schools, I hope the Optimist and ACU embrace openness in describing the ups-and-downs of the development process and the challenges involved in the initial rollout.

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Check back in roughly 60 days…

Posted in College Media, Future of Journalism, Journalism, New Media, Student Newspaper | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Huffington Post College News Section, Behind the Scenes, Part 2: A Chat with Jose Antonio Vargas

February 2, 2010 by Dan

Jose Antonio Vargas can claim one slice of a team reporting Pulitzer Prize. His j-work is credited with inspiring a documentary film on HIV/AIDS in DC. He has taught a university j-class called Storytelling 2.0.  And as The Huffington Post’s technology and innovations editor he writes a blog on Technology as Anthropology.  Simply put, this is a man who knows journalism and newmediatopia- cold.

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In a seminal post on his blog last October, titled “Young Voices in The Future of News,” Vargas writes, “We are at a critical, all-hands-on-deck moment in the history of news. . . . It’s time for young journalists and, just as important, young technologists to . . . explain how news is expanding and being re-defined in a world under Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.”

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Cue the HuffPost College News section. Vargas sees it as a platform for the new media generation to gain greater exposure for their (re)defining journalistic awesomeness and help them learn a bit more about three elements that Vargas believes are essential to modern journalism success: connection, conversation, and community.  Below, he shares a few thoughts about his plans for the section, the roots of his involvement, and its long term goals.

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Jose Antonio Vargas, Huffington Post technology & innovations editor, is overseeing the launch of the site's College News section.

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Why is The Huffington Post the best platform for student journalism content nationwide to be culled together?

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More than our growing traffic (which has more than doubled in the past year), more than our engaged readership (thousands of comments are left on the site on a daily basis), more than our reach and influence (in just a few years, the site has become a well-known brand), HuffPost has become a singular hub of news and opinion online. College sites will undoubtedly benefit from the kind of exposure we can provide, hopefully drawing a wider audience to the best and most insightful student journalism being done right now. At HuffPost, news is social.  HuffPost editors consistently and effectively leverage social media (Twitter and Facebook) to present the news and ensure that it spreads. We can help train student journalists in understanding the role that social media plays in our evolving news ecology.

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What interested you in helping with the section?

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My passion for journalism. Pardon the resume recitation, but here goes: I’ve been a (paid) journalist for 11 years, getting my start at a local weekly community paper, the Mountain View Voice, when I was 17 and still in high school; then getting hired at the San Francisco Chronicle, where I was first worked as a copy boy and eventually promoted to a full-time city reporter, while I was attending San Francisco State; then landing a full-time job at the Washington Post right after college, first as a feature writer for the Style section, where I covered video game culture and Washington, DC’s HIV/AIDS epidemic, then as a national political reporter covering the 2008 presidential campaign, writing mostly about technology’s impact on politics.

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To the surprise of many of my former colleagues at WaPo, I left DC, moved to NYC and joined HuffPost last summer because I wanted more experience in Web publishing. I want to deeply understand how social media, crowd-sourcing and citizen journalism are changing the very definition of media. I serve as HuffPost’s Technology and Innovations editor. In September, I launched HuffPost’s new Technology section and its theme (and the title of my HuffPost blog) is technology as anthropology- it’s the people, not the gear, it’s about behavior, not the tools. Overseeing the launch and execution of HuffPost College is part of my Innovations job.

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What is your response to concerns addressed that HuffPo is either too liberal or recently too fluff to act as a respectable, objective host of student news content?

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I’m aware of the criticism- HuffPost is the liberal Drudge, HuffPost is too fluff. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I heard the criticism when I was still at WashPost. But those concerns/judgments are not fair, and they do not capture the overall scope and depth of the content on the whole site. We do high-brow and low-brow, the cheesecake and the broccoli, as I call it. We report on the health care debate on Capitol Hill and the devastating tragedy in Haiti, but we also report on what Sandra Bullock wore at the Golden Globes and what’s the latest in the Conan-Leno saga. In other words, we report on what the average, mainstream news reader cares about. And that’s the same kind of editorial ethos that will guide HuffPost College.

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We care about the rising cost of college education, the effect of the post-recession job market on graduating seniors and the evolution of political identification among college-age voters, among others. But we also care about the emerging rules of college dating and hooking up in the Facebook age- we care about what makes college life fun. I’m a firm believer in letting the work speak for itself.

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What do you say to students who are concerned about the HuffPost banner/badge that will be included on their sites in exchange for their participation with the section?

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This is the bottom line about the HuffPost widget (banner/badge) that will accompany each school’s participation: We’ll work around what works best for their sites and their layouts. In other words, we won’t be dictating exactly where the widget goes on their sites. We’ll leave that to the editors to decide, and we’re also providing them with different widget sizes. The widget, in my mind, serves two purposes: 1) Signal a partnership between that site and HuffPost. 2) Just as important, expose news sites to the top five stories on HuffPost College at any given time- exposing their specific readership to a larger, broader news diet.

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A year after the launch, what would constitute a successful section to you?

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The main goal is to provide a vibrant, insightful, fun and distinctive hub of college-oriented news. Success will be measured by how well we reflect the reality of college life in America, aggregating content from many of the best college sites in the country while creating original, compelling and hopefully surprising stories.

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Success will also be measured by how well we engage and provoke our readers to the kind of news we feature on the site. And this bears noting, considering the state of the news industry: I cannot think of a more exciting time to be a journalist, and I cannot think of a more important time to be good at what I do. Worries aside, I think college age journalists feel the same way. Ask Leah.

Posted in College Media, Future of Journalism, Journalism, New Media | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments »

Huffington Post College News Section, Behind the Scenes, Part 1: A Chat with Leah Finnegan

February 1, 2010 by Dan

Leah Finnegan’s motto about the glasses she sports daily: Go big or go home. The former Daily Texan editor in chief has similarly large ambitions about impacting the college journalism scene nationwide.  She has taken a leave of absence from j-grad school at Columbia University to spearhead the launch of a College News section for The Huffington Post.

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As previously reported, the section aims to be a high-profile, one-stop site promoting student newswork and providing readers with a glimpse of what’s going down in the current campus zeitgeist. It will aggregate and promote published student media content, linking back to the original piece on student outlets’ home sites.  In a post-UWIRE world, the idea is laudable- but not without some concerns from j-students and the advisers who love them. Among those voiced to me: HuffPost is too liberal.  HuffPost is too superficial. And there is not enough in the arrangement for us (student media).

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In an exclusive chat with CMM (i.e. me), Finnegan and fellow project head Jose Antonio Vargas (HuffPost’s technology and innovations editor) address the above concerns and offer their thoughts on why they consider HuffPost and college media to be an excellent fit.  First up, Finnegan. Check back soon for part two of the chat with Vargas.

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Leah Finnegan is heading up Huffington Post's College News section, launching later this month.

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Why is The Huffington Post the best platform for student journalism content nationwide to be culled together?

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Finnegan: In the current scheme of media outlets, HuffPost is a powerhouse. We have the time, space and resources to aggregate college content and a built-in audience of 30 or so million to read it. UWIRE seemed to exist in a vacuum. No one really knew what they were doing and why they were doing it. HuffPost knows how to use and leverage the power of social media like none other, and has a lot to offer burgeoning journalists as those tools become more and more necessary for the proliferation of news media.

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What is your response to concerns expressed that the benefit for HuffPost far outweighs the positives for student media outlets participating?

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I think the benefits for both sides are scalable. I’m very much an advocate for the college papers, since that experience is still fresh in my mind, so the main thing is that the agreement won’t be a burden for editors- they can participate at a level they feel fit. HuffPost is simply acting as a conduit for content, promoting college news to our reader base and driving them back to the source of the original story, video or commentary piece.

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And it really comes back to this built-in audience that, we hope, will be interested in the college vertical and, as a result, the individual papers themselves.  We also want to foster a virtual community for college newspapers- a place where student journalists can go and see what others are doing, a one-stop shop for the most important college stories of the day.

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How many student media outlets have signed up? What is your end goal?

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We’re about halfway to our goal of 90.

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What is the plan of attack for actual site presentation?

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At the Texan, I really pushed a hyperlocal ethos, and I’m firmly in the camp that college newspapers are better when they focus on the community they’re in. But above all I’m interested in original reporting on campus events- say if a national figure spoke on campus and there was an acrimonious protest, as was the case when John Ashcroft visited Texas last year. Or there was just a great story in the Colorado Independent about how the regents are banning toy guns on campus.  And the Oregon Daily Emerald has been producing some really interesting stuff about a white supremacist group there. I’ve been reading the papers we hope to partner with for a couple of weeks already, and there’s some awesome work in them- enough, I predict, to fill the vertical and then some.

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Why do you feel this section is important enough to have taken a break from graduate school to get up and running?

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I was having a hard time deleting college papers from my Google Reader and letting go of my predilection for Mark Yudof news. This project was tailor-fit for me and my residual obsession with college media. I knew I had to do it, and I like working more than studying, so the opportunity spoke for itself.

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What is the biggest misconception that you would like to ensure is cleared up prior to your launch?

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That we’re going to profit greatly from this, or doing this solely for the profit. If that was the case I wouldn’t be doing it.

Posted in College Media, Future of Journalism, Journalism, New Media, Student Newspaper | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments »

What Pay Walls, Meter Schemes Mean for College Media

January 29, 2010 by Dan

Amid the gravity-defying hype centered on all-things-iPad (it really won’t have a USB port??), a more important journalistic drumbeat continues to sound.  As Rupert Murdoch, Steven Brill, and most recently the New York Times have confirmed: Pay walls or metered pricing systems for online news content will soon be coming to a high-profile Web site frequented by you.

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As I write in a new piece for MediaShift, the implications for the news industry and Internet as a whole are enormous. For college media specifically, meters and walls could be a veritable game changer, a final helium burst in their rise to professional press-level prominence- provided, of course, they turn them down.

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The new “walledoffedness” culture coming to online news media provides student outlets with a unique opportunity to grow their Web readership.  My argument is that to attain this growth a few time-tested news-editorial approaches may need to be reconfigured and a commitment to a free, easily accessible Web site should be confirmed.  To read the full piece, click here.

Posted in College Media, Future of Journalism, Journalism, New Media, Student Newspaper | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Student Newspaper Column Delivers High-Profile Criticism of Airport Prank

January 27, 2010 by Dan

Student press power vaulted onto the national stage in recent days through a campus newspaper column recounting a student’s run-in with a horrifically insensitive airport prankster.

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In a piece for The Michigan Daily headlined “Tsk, Tsk, TSA,” University of Michigan student and “expert traveler” Rebecca Solomon describes a routine run through the security screening at Philadelphia International Airport suddenly turned topsy-turvy when a TSA officer confronted her with a “small baggie of white powder” and a stern warning to tell the truth about its origins. As she writes:

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I immediately told him I had no idea where the bag came from and that I hadn’t left my bags unattended— a cardinal sin in airport security. He let me stutter through an explanation for the longest minute of my life. Tears streamed down my face as I pleaded with him to understand that I’d never seen this baggie before.  But as I emotionally tried to explain that I couldn’t explain, he started to smile, an odd reaction to such a monumental find in my things. Then he waved the baggie at me and told me he was kidding, that I should’ve seen the look on my face.

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I know.  I had the same reaction.  Remove jaw from floor, and continue reading.

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Just as shocking is Solomon’s subsequent account of airport officials brushing her complaints about the prank aside and all but one motherly passenger ignoring her obvious state of distress.  In her words, “I asked to speak with the director of security. The supervisor met me at my gate and I explained what I’d just experienced. I identified the employee, who, to my shock, was not immediately removed from the floor, and filled out a complaint form. . . . And that was it.”

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Well, not quite.  Fortunately, Solomon also decided to recall her tale in the Daily. The piece, written nearly three weeks ago, spread throughout the Web and eventually came to the attention of the MSM, including the Associated Press and New York Times. The TSA has been forced to address the incident publicly.  The employee-prankster has been let go.  And larger questions are now swirling about the TSA’s image problem and airport security procedures.

Posted in College Media, Journalism, New Media, Student Newspaper | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Student Newspaper Cartoon Mixes Sex, Haiti, Controversy

January 26, 2010 by Dan

It comes in threes. The Independent Florida Alligator at the University of Florida is apologizing for the recent publication of a sexually-themed cartoon caricaturing the world’s Haiti charity fervor. It is the third high-profile cartoon controversy within collegemediatopia in about a week.

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For Notre Dame’s Observer, it was charges of blatant gay bashing. For Delta’s Collegiate, it was questions of implicit possible racism. For the Alligator, the criticisms seem to focus on two main elements: poking fun at an issue related to an uber-tragedy still in progress and delivering that poke in a manner seen as overly vulgar, given the seriousness of the event at its core. Or more simply: sex, satire, and Haiti, too soon to stir that pot.

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The cartoon stirring high emotions is a simply-drawn single-framed shot of a man and woman engaged in passionate sexual intercourse- the woman multi-tasking at the man’s urging by texting the Red Cross ostensibly to offer a donation toward Haiti relief efforts. This seems to up their arousal, with the man excitedly shouting from between her legs, “Yeah Baby! Text Haiti to 90999.”

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In a statement titled “Haiti Cartoon Not Meant to Offend,” the paper’s editorial board insisted on the cartoon’s relevance and pure intentions, while apologizing “if the execution fell a little flat.” As part of the statement read, “We were simply trying to show how people have come together to help the Haitians in their time of need, as we do when we publish stories about the relief efforts of students- only with the cartoon, we were giving it a humorous spin. We understand that Haitians are dealing with a horrible tragedy, and we would never want to treat the situation insensitively. But despite the heartbreak, we see beauty in the way the world is coming together to help Haitians. Our cartoon was simply an acknowledgment of the fact that people are joining together to get behind a cause.”

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The cartoon is part of the Alligator’s prominent sexToon series, a regular feature in the paper displaying cartoons mixing sexual innuendo with a deeper editorial message. The series has apparently been at the center of a larger set of critiques (and even what the paper refers to as bullying) about its explicitness, making the current offering simply more fuel for their opponents’ ire. While vowing that sexToons would not be eliminated, the paper admirably requests reader comments about the most recent ‘toon, noting “We want feedback, and we want to learn. . . . Lay it on us.”

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My take: Maybe a bit overboard, but intercourse aside, the passion angle is appreciated. The recent George Clooney-thon of course was basically unmatched in scope and donation strength. A friend in Chicago told me yesterday he has never seen employees at his large company so eager to pitch in to a cause. Another acquaintance who works at a health clinic mentioned to me via e-mail that she believes this is the first time she and other members of the teen and twentysomething generation have ever given en masse to charity.

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Simply put, the world has absolutely reached a “Yeah Baby!” level of satisfaction about doing its part to ease the suffering of the Haitian people. To me, that is the cartoon’s message- timely, thought-provoking, and true. And yes, the sex on display is a bit much, but regular Alligator readers at least have no excuse for being surprised. It is called a sexToon after all.

Posted in College Media, Journalism, Journalism Ethics, Student Newspaper, Teachable Moment | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Another Student Press Comic Mess Erupts in Michigan

January 24, 2010 by Dan

Although muted on a national level amid the Notre Dame Observer furor, another student press comic mess has been playing out in Michigan. A four-panel strip run in a recent issue of The Delta Collegiate at Delta College has critics crying racism.

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The comic (below) presents a string of gentlemen greeting a visitor to Saginaw County, Mich., with fun facts about the area. The last greeter, sporting a black mask and offering the visitor illegal drugs, tosses out a confirmed real world statistic about Saginaw enduring the most violent crimes per resident in the U.S. (as of 2008).  The masked man then pulls a knife and demands the visitors’ money and drugs.

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Some critics are claiming that the black color of the thug’s mask has overt racial overtones (basically that the comic is allegedly saying a black man would be the one with the drugs and violently criminal intent). As a Delta student said in a television report (check out full report below), “Some people found it inappropriate, especially the last part about the drugs and the guy with the black hoodie covering his head.  Some people thought it was racially offensive. Other people just thought it was offensive towards Saginaw.” Separately, the Delta College president stated, “Personally, I found the cartoon to be in poor taste, and I was disappointed.”

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Collegiate staffers and its adviser are passionately denying any racial subtext to the strip (including arguing that the mask may be black but not the man under it).  Instead, they are rightly pointing out that those who feel it shows Saginaw in a bad light need to accept that the comic is presenting an illustrative, only slightly satirical truth.

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The paper’s adviser, Kathie Marchlewski Bachleda (who is handling the press queries remarkably well): “There’s a certain amount of satisfaction that we’ve been able to spark a dialogue about this issue. . . . The idea that Saginaw is the most violent city in the country is certainly not flattering.  And so one of the things students hoped to do was to call attention to this problem, and say, ‘Here, we need to talk about this.’”

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Posted in College Media, Journalism, Journalism Ethics, Student Newspaper, Teachable Moment | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Print Journalism Track Converged in New UNLV Curriculum

January 23, 2010 by Dan

The end may be near for print journalism, the professional field and the academic major.  The Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies at UNLV is the latest j-school or program to announce a curricular reshuffle that includes an ink-stained goodbye to the print journalism concentration.

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What used to be four tracks (print journalism, broadcast journalism, media studies and integrated marketing communications) now are two (journalism and media studies, and marketing communications).  As the school’s undergraduate coordinator told the Rebel Yell student newspaper: “There was some frustration among students who were looking for jobs after graduating but weren’t getting the jobs because they weren’t fluent in different media like the Internet. Journalists in the real world can’t be burdened by those barriers.  It’s our attempt at making our curriculum more realistic. . . . To turn out traditionalists that are only trained in [Associated Press-style] writing for print is doing students a disservice.”

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What do you think? In a news media universe in which print still dominates but possibly not much longer, should print-specific tracks within university j-programs be broadened, reorganized or dropped entirely? I like the words of Greenspun’s director Daniel Stout on this one: “There was a time when journalism was separated into various industries, but today the media environment is converged.”

Posted in College Media, Future of Journalism, Journalism, Journalism Education, New Media | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Student Blogs “Determined to Reinvent College Journalism”

January 21, 2010 by Dan

The still relatively new batch of online student outlets with new media sense and underground sensibilities have been dubbed nothing less than full-blown “blogging fraternities.”  A new Chronicle of Higher Education feature declares that the “national wave of student-run Web outfits [are] determined to reinvent college journalism. . . . Readers devour these sites. College officials fret over them. And competitors carp about their edgy methods, which sometimes include a publish-it-now-correct-it-later approach to campus rumors.”  (Full disclosure: I am briefly cited in the piece.)

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File:Onward State Icon.jpg

Penn State University's Onward State is one of the members of the modern student blogging frat pack mentioned by the Chronicle.

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Some of the new media methods online student outfits are trying on for size, according to the Chronicle and research of mine that is cited:

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- They break news and boast high Web traffic, at times besting their student newspaper counterparts   (Chronicle piece: “Underground media has always existed. But not until recently . . . have there been underground papers published on a global distribution platform and amplified by the personal social networks of editors . . . who can share posts with more than 1,300 Facebook ‘friends.’”)

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- Yes, they occasionally dabble (responsibly) in rumor and innuendo (NYU Local founder Cody Brown previously wrote that this dabbling is part of a more widespread ‘real time’ reporting phenomenon)

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- Schools are starting to recognize their presence and marketing potential (For example, New York University has begun advertising on NYU Local.)

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- They consider the whole newsroom face-to-face meet-up thing a remnant of yesterday’s news outlet (Onward State apparently enjoys Google Wave. Staffers at other outlets with whom I’ve spoken rely upon more traditional mass e-mailing, IMing, Facebook, and Google Docs.)

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Notre Dame Observer Faces Outrage Over ‘Anti-Gay’ Comic

January 19, 2010 by Dan

The editorial board of The Notre Dame Observer has profusely apologized and the paper’s assistant managing editor has stepped down after the recent publication of a “cruel and hateful” comic strip. A staff editorial calls the incident a “low point in [the paper's] almost 50-year history.”

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Both versions of the strip considered by editors, including the original rejected submission (second from the top). Beneath the strips is a gmail chat between one of the comic creators and an Observer staffer.

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An image of the offensive comic strip, titled "Mobile Party," as it appeared in print in a recent Observer edition.

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According to an Irish Central report (and as the images above confirm), “The cartoon depicts a conversation between two figures that reads: ‘What’s the easiest way to turn a fruit into a vegetable?’ ‘No idea.’ ‘A baseball bat.’ Earlier, the cartoonist . . . posted the original version of the cartoon on his blog. In this version, it shows  the punch line as ‘AIDS’ instead of ‘a baseball bat.’ The paper, he claimed, preferred ‘not to make light of fatal diseases.’”

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Among the criticisms emanating from faculty and students at Notre Dame and its sister school St. Mary’s, here is part of a statement from student representatives of St. Mary’s Straight and Gay Alliance (Notre Dame does not officially recognize a GSA-related group on its campus): “You may not like it but Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s is a home to lesbian, gay and bisexual students. Your call as both a Christian and as a human being is to respect them. Making light of the very real threat of homophobic motivated hate crimes is a poor excuse for humor and a despicable action. I completely support and defend a person’s freedom of belief, expression and speech. However, when expressing that belief takes the form of language which encourages violence against a group of people, you have crossed a professional and ethical line.”

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Similarly, in a piece touching on the comic’s status as a symbol of a larger discriminatory and ignorant mindset at the school, a Notre Dame sociology professor writes, “This [the comic controversy] is no isolated incident on our campus. . . . Getting a cheap laugh at the expense of the abused, bashed, disabled and even murdered not only belittles these horrific experiences but encourages more violence.”

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The comic creators, a trio of Notre Dame seniors, have apologized for its insensitivity, claiming they were attempting to mock the homophobia they observe on campus, not add to it. “Intolerance of homosexuality is a major problem on Notre Dame’s campus,” they wrote in a letter published in the Observer. “We tried to address it in our comics— using the tool characters to emphasize a mindset that we simply find ridiculous. In our last comic, we had the human character, our voice of reason, not understand the joke because of its absurd nature. . . . We consistently try to write comics that rely on shock value and now that we have gone too far, we realize that we have abused the privilege and responsibility of contributing to the Observer.”

Posted in College Media, Journalism, Journalism Ethics, Student Newspaper, Teachable Moment | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Free Press Fights Continue in Los Angeles, Illinois

January 18, 2010 by Dan

Spring semester is now upon us, and a new set of free press fights are in bloom.  First up: The Student Press Law Center has penned, signed, and sent a smackdown of a letter to the president of Los Angeles City College, outlining an array of dismaying administrative tactics aimed at controlling content in the Collegian student newspaper.

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By far the most uggh-tastic incident among those listed: a stiff-arming of a student journalist covering one of the university’s public town hall meetings to sign a waiver permitting her to use her recording of the meeting.

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The SPLC’s concerns about the “pattern of interference” follow the public squabble last September that erupted when LACC admins. sliced the Collegian’s budget 40 percent allegedly because students “fought the institution’s president over press freedom.” (School officials ultimately settled for a 16 percent reduction.)  My eyes literally widened with admiration at the wording of part of the SPLC letter: “Finding a First Amendment violation at LACC is like looking for a needle in a needle stack.”

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Separately, a “coalition of journalism organizations” are publicly supporting j-students involved in Northwestern University’s famed and suddenly controversial Innocence Project (which investigates death row murder cases and occasionally sets a wrongfully convicted person free).  As part of the case recently launched against the Project, the state attorney in Illinois wants the notes, recordings, and other materials from the students who worked on it. The journalism community’s response is that these students were acting in a journalistic capacity, regardless of the fact that they were still enrolled in school. This means two words: shield law.

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Part of an SPLC friend of the court brief: “No matter how they are compensated and for what medium they write, when students perform reporting functions, they are entitled to protection against the compelled production of their newsgathering materials and fishing expeditions into their motives.”

Posted in College Media, Free Press Fights, Journalism, Student Newspaper | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Best College Media Quotes, Fall 2009

January 17, 2010 by Dan

This is the sixth installment of a multi-post glimpse back at the highlights and lowlights of fall 2009 in collegemediatopia.

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Best College Media Quotes

“Besides being illegal, heavy-handed control of college student publications is widely recognized both as unethical and as an unsound educational practice that deprives students of valuable learning opportunities. . . . They [students] are old enough to drive cars, purchase firearms, sign contracts, get married, vote, serve on juries, and strap on rifles and die for their country. They are certainly old enough to decide which student would make the best layout editor.”

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- Student Press Law Center executive director Frank LoMonte, chastising Clark College officials for heavy-handed involvement in student newspaper staff selection

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“It would be the same as cutting chemicals from the chemistry budget. The paper provides a window into the college, not just for the 30 students who help produce it but for all the students and the community.”

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- Faculty adviser, The Collegian, LA City College, reacting to the newspaper’s budget cuts

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“Right before we came back, people started to realize the value of the student newspaper, because they didn’t know what was going on. We did our best to run stories online . . . but students don’t go online to read their campus newspaper. They might go online to read the New York Times or the Washington Post, but a campus newspaper is supposed to be there when you’re walking to your classes; it’s supposed to be there when you’re walking out of your dorm.”

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- Editor of The Hilltop at Howard University, about the paper’s reemergence on campus after a semester’s absence

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“We are surrounded by people who say that the world is coming to an end, but it is just beginning for you.”

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- A professor addressing j-students, referencing the rise in predictions about journalism’s demise

Posted in College Media, Free Press Fights, Future of Journalism, Journalism, New Media, Student Newspaper | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

College Media Sex Scandals, Fall 2009

January 15, 2010 by Dan

This is the fifth installment of a multi-post glimpse back at the highlights and lowlights of fall 2009 in collegemediatopia.

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Sex Scandal Award: Towerlight, Towson University

The Towerlight at Towson University was in serious flux last October because of Lux, the pseudonymous writer behind the sex column “The Bed Post.” The column divided the newspaper’s editorial team, incensed the university president, and caused a media ruckus after the editor-in-chief quit (?!) in the wake of increasing administrative anger and school officials’ subtle and overt attempts at eliminating the content.

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A Baltimore Sun editorial: “There may indeed be little journalistic value in ‘The Bed Post’ . . . Aside from its questionable taste, it violated many of the standards student publications traditionally are supposed to teach aspiring young reporters and editors, such as the necessity of judging what is worthy of coverage as news and a willingness to stand behind the facts in a story. . . . [But] it should have been up to the students to come to those conclusions, not have them dictated by lawmakers and university administrators. The first lessons student journalists in a democracy learn should not have to be how to survive under the censor’s arbitrary fist.”

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Runner-up honors to the Dakota Student at the University of North Dakota. In late November, the pub printed  a supposedly satirical column that advised men on how to execute successful one-night stands. It was roundly criticized “as a guide on how to commit rape . . . [and for] joking about abuse.” Among the comments lodged beneath the article: “This is terrible, you just told guys how to rape a girl.  This is so wrong on so many levels.”; “There are some things you don’t satire, even an idiot could figure that out!  What if women who were raped read this . . . This could be a horrible, painful trigger for [them].”; and “The satire hit on a hot button issue, which is exactly what it is meant to do; it elicits emotional responses. This particular piece does little to address an actual issue, but rather pokes fun at cliche date rape methods.”

Posted in College Media, Free Press Fights, Journalism, Student Newspaper | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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