Archive for October, 2009

College Media Year in Review, 2008-2009

Posted in College Media, Journalism, Journalism Education, New Media, Student Newspaper, tagged , , , , on October 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

“On a Sunday evening in early February, Daily Tar Heel staffers at the University of North Carolina were dealing with the usual stresses of a looming print deadline. And then the bomb dropped. Or at least the threat of one, which forced the evacuation of a few campus buildings, including the student union that houses the paper’s newsroom…”

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So begins my look back at the year that was in collegemediatopia. The latest issue of College Media Review features my retrospective on all-things influential, controversial, innovative, and just-plain wacky in the world of college media in 2008-2009.

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College Media Review

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Among the publications and people specifically mentioned: The Amherst Wire, The Collegian (Hillsdale College), The Collegiate Times (Virginia Tech), The Daily Bruin, The Daily Utah Chronicle, The Daily Emerald, The Daily Nexus (UC Santa Barbara), The Daily Tar Heel, The Hoya, The Minnesota Daily, NYU Local, Quad News, The Quinnipiac Chronicle, The Signpost (Weber State), The Tech (MIT), Briana Bierschbach, Jackie Hai, and Allison Nichols.

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Be sure to check out the piece (pages 9-11) and the rest of the issue!

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College Media Review2

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Schools Fight Back!: James Madison Charges Student Journalists, Butler Sues Student Blogger

Posted in College Media, Free Press Fights, Journalism, Journalism Ethics, New Media, tagged , , , , , , , on October 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

At James Madison University, it started with a peeping tom- an alleged creep watching girls in dorm showers. It’s now ending with administrative idiocy. A student reporter with The Breeze, JMU’s campus newspaper, went to a JMU dorm recently to speak with students about a reported shower stalker. An RA became nervous and asked the reporter to leave. The Breeze EIC came by as back-up. So did the hall director. Now, as the paper and the Student Press Law Center report, the EIC and reporter are being charged with “trespassing, disorderly conduct and non-compliance with an official request.”

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Shower Head Water Drops EXPLORE 7-26-09 4 by stevendepolo.

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My take: Slap the shower stalker with those charges, not dedicated student journos just doing their job! It’s a dorm, not a sanctuary. And these are not scary outsiders invading students’ private space. Dear lord, they are journalist peers. This is power abuse, against the spirit (and most likely also the letter) of the law. It’s also incredibly bad PR. How can someone at JMU not realize that? SPLC attorney advocate: ”It’s an action so contradictory to the ordinary meaning of the First Amendment that it’s astonishing they haven’t backed down from it yet. A mistake this obvious shouldn’t take this long to get corrected.” JMU professor: “It’s very ironic we have this situation at an institution named after James Madison, who has been labeled the father of the Constitution.”

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The Butler case is more complicated, and frankly I do not know where I stand here. The *very* barebones basics, as reported with much more meaty goodness by Inside Higher Ed: Butler University is suing one of its own students for an anonymous blog he kept starting last fall that bad-mouthed various administrators to the point of what the school is calling defamation and libel. This one is tricky, however, because the student is a son/stepson of two Butler faculty members and originally started the blog (under the creative moniker “Soodo Nym”) when he became upset about some insider shenanigans allegedly affecting his stepmother’s position as chair of Butler’s School of Music.

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From the snippets provided by Inside Higher Ed, no statements appear to come close to being libelous or defamatory  (although there were some random e-mails the student sent to admins. that seem a bit more troublesome). And I do think the school is overreacting and bringing unnecessary levels of attention to what is obviously a huge amount of inner turmoil on campus.  But my Balloon-Boy-cynicism starts kicking in when I read that the student’s parents claim they had no clue their son was writing a regular attack-blog against people who apparently are the parents’ sworn school enemies (or at least with whom they had a falling out).  This mess has TV-movie-of-the-week written all over it. (To the wonderfultastic Renee Petrina at Bowling Green: Send the best related editorial your students create and I’ll check it out and maybe post it!)

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Student Newspaper Has Scoop on Chicago Racism Incident

Posted in College Media, Journalism, New Media, Student Newspaper, tagged , , , , , on October 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

The Student Life at Washington University in St. Louis is using its student connections and new media savviness to cover the Chicago bar racism incident in-depth and from numerous angles. They have posted the insta-famous Rejected, Admitted photos and had their opening story on the alleged blow to Civil Rights picked up by HuffPo and a host of other national outlets.

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Seniors Regis Murayi (left) and Jordan Roberts (right)wear the same pair of jeans. Murayi was told he could not enter a Chicago bar because he violated its ban on baggy jeans. He then switched jeans with Roberts, and Roberts was admitted into the bar. Murayi says the bar discriminated against him because he is black. (Courtesy of Fernando Cutz)

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The newspaper has run a number of stories documenting the reactions of students and the school chancellor, along with covering a campus “town hall-style forum” addressing the incident’s implications.  I am especially impressed by the paper’s town hall live blog.  Most live blogs are utter crapola, attempting to capture too little, too soon (an Entertainment Weekly Oscar ceremony live blog earlier this year literally featured items such as “Tom Cruise walks to podium.”) The StudLife LB, by comparison, is perfectly spaced out.  It offered updates about every five minutes- enabling fully-formed sentences, context (even mini-headers), and some actual insight! Bravo.

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Story Idea: Student Newspaper Presents Editorial as Facebook News Feed

Posted in College Media, Journalism, New Media, Story Ideas, Student Newspaper, tagged , , , , , , on October 27, 2009 | 2 Comments »

It is Student Life day here at CMM! I am not talking about undergraduates’ beyond-class campus experiences, but the scrappy student newspaper at Washington University in St. Louis.  The pub is currently soaking in the national spotlight for its fantastic coverage of a major event (more on that in a moment).

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But on a recent visit to its Web site, I came across a separate innovative new media content scheme definitely worth sharing: a staff editorial breaking down the major moments of the school year so far in the form of Facebook’s beloved News Feed.  Obviously it is campus-specific, so I have no clue what most status updates are about (anyone with the scoop on the Eleven Magazine update, I’m curious!), but the medium is the message here as a story/presentation idea for other SMOs (student media outlets) worldwide.

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Scott Bressler is Cooler Than You :)

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(Thanks to fantastic StudLife online editor Scott Bressler for passing along a more Web-friendly image.)

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Montana Football Coach Bans Team from Speaking with Student Newspaper

Posted in College Media, Journalism, Student Newspaper, tagged , , , , , on October 26, 2009 | 2 Comments »

University of Montana football coach Bobby Hauck is throwing a prolonged temper tantrum worthy of Will.i.am aimed directly at the student press. He is refusing to speak to The Montana Kaimin, the school’s student newspaper, and has instructed his team and staff to boycott the publication as well.  Why? Because, wait for it, the Kaimin had the gall to not only publish an accurate story about two football players’ alleged misdeeds but also then ask Hauck some tame football questions at recent press conferences. Inglourious Basterds they are not. Sounds more like quality journalists to me.

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The incident, which I’m labeling the Bobby Ban affair (or maybe the Hauck-sucker Proxy?), has now gone viral. National news outlets are weighing in, all in the Kaimin‘s favor. In a ridonkulously funny, eye-opening column, Jeff Pearlman at Sports Illustrated provides a nice recap of the ban’s origins: “The whole ordeal dates back a month ago, when the Kaimin published a piece about an alleged assault on a student by two Montana football players.  The content of the article hasn’t been questioned, and the reporter made certain to contact Hauck and the players before publication.  When the reporter asked the coach about the incident, Hauck cursed him out, then tried to cover up his tape recorder. . . . At a recent weekly news conference, a Kaimin reporter asked Hauck a simple question about his quarterbacks. ‘You want something from me now?’ the coach replied. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’”

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Great move, coach. Alienate the most prominent voice of your fan base. Next up: Start insulting star recruits’ mothers. With the national press now taking aim at his egomania, I imagine the phrase “Bobby’s career on the sidelines” will take on a whole new meaning once the season is complete. And the best part, the Kaimin will get to cover it. :-)

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On a side-note, a quote from Editor & Publisher, circa 1949: A student newspaper “can raise more hell on a college campus than spiked punch at the dean’s reception for freshmen women.” In respect to this positive ability to impact its coverage area, the Kaimin officially wins the first CMM “Spiked Punch” award. The paper’s pissing off of the football coach comes only months after it similarly riled up a wacko faculty member at the school for publishing its first sex column in its roughly 110-year history. Quality journalism, oh the agony!  To the paper’s editor, Allison Maier, keep up the fight! You’re national now. :-)

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College Media Blogger on the UWIRE Stoppage Situation

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on October 26, 2009 | 2 Comments »

I am writing briefly basically to say hello, again. As my dozens of (family members) loyal readers might recall, I stopped updating this blog in mid-September, segueing to UWIRE’s “College Media Beat.” Earlier this month, without warning, UWIRE basically stopped functioning online.

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As Seattle University’s Spectator blog reports, “The service’s Web site, uwire.com, stopped updating its headlines and sending out its daily news digest e-mails [as of early-to-mid October] and now a visit to the site returns an error.” A statement from UWIRE’s general manager: “UWIRE has temporarily suspended its print wire operations. The company is in the process of trying to get the wire relaunched as quickly as possible and when more information is available it will be made public.”

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The Spectator piece cites my previous interview with Joe Weasel, the CEO of Palestra.net, the company that purchased UWIRE back in March. Weasel told me at the time: “[W]e’re trying to find an outlet and find the mechanism whereby students can get even more engaged in not only print and text but digital journalism. We’re trying to get students as much exposure as possible…”

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Many people have asked me for inside information on what is going down.  My answer: I have absolutely no idea. I’ve received only barebones info. What does this mean for College Media Beat? I also honestly have no clue. I’ve basically been told to hold off blogging for awhile and wait for final word on its status.  I am but a lowly blogger half a world away, so I do not know what is actually transpiring. My hope is something incredibly fantastic. What I can confirm: The staff with whom I have had the pleasure to interact are wonderful, hardworking, idealistic, and *truly* want what is best for student journalists and the faculty and advisers who love them.

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My bottom line: I miss blogging about collegemediatopia, and lots has gone down in the last few weeks (thefts and censorship and even a high-profile football fight!). So I’m back here with CMM. Stay tuned.

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Editor Reflects on Tough Student Government Coverage

Posted in College Media, Journalism, Student Newspaper, tagged , , , , , on October 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

In a reflective new post on her personal blog, Whit editor in chief Emily Kostic at Rowan University outlines her seesaw mentality toward the paper’s recent gung-ho coverage and editorializing about the school’s student government.

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In her words:

Over the past month, The Whit . . . has published several controversial stories about our Student Government Association. It got heated. The Montclarion (the college newspaper at Montclair State University who has been in legal battles with their SGA over similar issues as ours) published an editorialsupporting us. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Student Press Law Center were unofficially advising us. It was bad and well…is still unresolved.

The controversy reached fever pitch when we published this editorial— a slamming review of Rowan’s SGA and their practices. It was, to use their word, “harsh.”

I agreed with the publishing of the associated article and editorial the entire week up to its publishing and as soon as the paper the news stand and we hit publish for it to go online, I was immediately hit with regret.

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She later wrote it was a campus visit by the fearless authors of The Soprano State, a book exposing corruption at the highest levels in New Jersey, that ultimately swayed her to accept the Whit‘s tough love as a journalistic necessity and to embrace the mantra heading her post: “Don’t Be Scared- Question Authority!”

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One of the toughest issues student press outlets face is going after its own. A student newspaper is held up as an outlet for students, by students, making tough love or an outright attack on one of its brothers or sisters in arms something akin to a mother lamb feeding her young to the wolves. (After all, according to stereotype, student media should only be going after school administrators!)

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The other tough spot for student journos: You often have to look the object of your disaffections in the eye immediately and repeatedly after publication. Kostic mentions that she personally likes several members of Rowan’s student government. For student journalists, especially on small campuses, the reality is that those you wish to feature will often be friends, acquaintances or at least connected to you probably through less than three degrees of separation. As long as the extensive, in-your-face coverage has been accurate and not reached the point of simply being piled on, the Whit should be proud of its efforts.

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Daily Cal: “Let’s Talk About Sex” & Student Press Freedom

Posted in College Media, Free Press Fights, Student Newspaper, tagged , , , , on October 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

In a recent editorial, the senior editorial board of The Daily Californian, the independent student newspaper at UC-Berkeley, tsk-tsked both parties involved in Towson University’s Towerlight sex column controversy. According to the write-up, student press freedom, not sex, was the real issue at stake in the “Bed Post” dispute- and the Towerlighteditor’s resignation and the Towson president’s financial threats undercut that freedom dramatically for the entire country to see.

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One portion of the editorial stated:

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Though the pressure on [the former top editor] must have been great, her decision to resign was a mistake. The Towerlight just achieved its independence last year . . . Her resignation, and the column’s discontinuation, demonstrate that the Towerlight, though nominally independent, won’t stand up to the administration in defense of its content.

But more than [the editor], [Towson president Robert] Caret is clearly in the wrong. . . . Caret ought to respect and value the independence of the Towerlight, even if he disagrees with its content. The newspaper is for the students, not the university president, and it’s unfair for him to attempt to impose his personal tastes and preference on an independent media outlet.

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The Daily Cal has published the popular “Sex on Tuesday” column since the late 1990s. Separately, here is a newCampus Progress post outlining what it feels is the problem with student sex columns, in response to a Nation piece outlining their virtues.

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Pulitzer Winner Robinson Reflects on Michigan Daily Days

Posted in College Media, Journalism, Student Newspaper, tagged , , on October 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

In a new video clip, Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner for commentary, reflects on his Michigan Daily days.  According to Robinson, who served as a co-editor in chief of the paper 35 years ago: “I’ve always said The Michigan Daily is the best journalism education that anyone could ever have.  It was the certainly the best I could ever have.  I learned about the craft of journalism, but I also learned about the passion and the commitment and the sense of a mission that ultimately drew a lot of us into journalism and sustained us throughout our careers.”

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The snippet is part of a larger video series being put together under the direction of standout Daily editor Gary Graca aimed at spotlighting the paper’s significance in the lives and careers of its most distinguished alums.  Check it out below!

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Eugene Robinson

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Sex Column Causes Editor to Quit; Opinion Column on Equality Stirs Up Trouble

Posted in Uncategorized on October 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Student editor resigns over sex column: The Towerlight at Towson University is in serious flux because of Lux, the pseudonymous writer behind the sex column “The Bed Post.” Recent columns have divided the editorial team, incensed the  university president, and is causing a media ruckus now that the editor in chief has quit (?!) in the wake of increasing administrative anger.

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This Baltimore Sun editorial especially says it all: “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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Student paper answers critics of opinion column: Late last week, a Boston University student sounded off in The Heights about the rise in educational and professional opportunities for the disadvantaged and historically underrepresented.  It was basically a rip on Affirmative Action.  In the student’s words: “The Civil Rights movement is over, and it is time to accept that we cannot artificially accommodate for everyone.” The opinion has spurred a ton of criticism, including some for the Heights itself for publishing such a rancorous piece.

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Now, the paper is fighting back, defining its role in starting the conversation: “The Opinions section of The Heights is a public forum for this University. This space is reserved for the thoughts, ideas, and arguments of members of the BC community. With this in mind, the pages of our newspaper can be the epicenter of many discussions, particularly the most difficult, which are generally the most necessary. We will never publish any piece with the intention of offending or inciting bitterness, yet we will never shy away from material that may cause heated dialogue.”

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Originally published in College Media Beat

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J-Student Spotlight: Bryan J. Roy, University of Arizona

Posted in College Media, Journalism, Journalist Spotlight, New Media, Student Newspaper, tagged , , , , on October 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

(Check out original story on College Media Beat)

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Bryan J. Roy is aglow against an early nighttime sky.  The University of Arizona student journalist’s name is the most prominent feature of the metropolitan-themed graphic header on his Web site.  The portfolio site is an ode to his numerous (and varied!) journalistic accomplishments.  The 20-year-old’s most recent, and impressive, addition to the list: a fantastic redesign of the online Arizona Daily Wildcat.

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Roy, the Wildcat‘s Web Director, chatted with me recently about the paper’s online reinvention and offers some advice for students seeking to chart a similar path to the online journalism promised land.

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Write a six-word memoir of your Wildcat experience so far.

Good preparation. Great exposure. Best people.

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How did the paper’s online reinvention play out?

Back in the mid-1990s, the Arizona Daily Wildcat was one of the first college newspapers to buy into this Internet fad. While we’ve faded and fallen behind the curve recently, it was my mission to not only redesign and brand a new online portal, but also change our workflow and way we deliver the news. Of course, there’s no way one single person or idea is going to change a newsroom — it takes a group effort to execute.

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What was the toughest part of the experience?

Restructuring workflows are never easy. People are always set in their ways, and believe it or not, those ways aren’t faring too well in today’s information-feasting newsgetters. New this year: Section editors immediately received more duties. Copy editors upload the stories to the web. Our photo editors upload photos and slideshows. Reporters have shown interest in producing video clips to go along with their stories. There’s no easy way to tell somebody they have more responsibilities on top of their regular day-to-day operations. But there’s no easy way to practice journalism either.

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Standout redesign memory.

Just the day we went live with our new design. Probably the closest thing to giving birth I’ll ever experience.

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What new Web features do you envision being audience hits or journalistically successful?

I visit the Salary Database quite regularly. I doubt I’m alone. It’s cool to see how much our professors earn and where the school is spending our money. Of course our regular video reports adds another dimension to rich content, but the more in-depth enterprise pieces can definitely go viral. I redesigned the Web site this summer in order to best feature our content, photos and multimedia. So far, traffic-wise, it’s been a huge facelift and allows us to brand our product much better than most professional news organizations.

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What advice do you have for j-students looking to up their own news outlets’ Web game?

Buy a BlackBerry and communicate with everyone around the clock. This summer my Dad asked me how many hours a week I’ll work with this new position. I laughed and said the Internet rarely turns off.  So be prepared to work your a** off.

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What is the coolest part about being Web Director of a top college media outlet?

Having the resources that most real papers don’t even have. With the size of our newsroom and staff, there’s no limit as to what we can do. That, along with our market. Our campus of almost 40,000 is pretty big, but multiply that by the number of parents, alums and prospective students that are interested in the UA— that’s a pretty huge audience and a huge reason why a viable web presence is important. Dad loves reading the Police Beat.

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

Boston.com editor-in-chief.

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