Archive for September, 2011

2011 College Press Freedom Award Recipient: The Sun, Southwestern College

Posted in College Media, Free Press Fights, Journalism, Student Newspaper on September 29, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

For enduring and ultimately prevailing in a nasty squabble with vindictive school officials, The Sun at California’s Southwestern College has earned the 2011 College Press Freedom Award.

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In an anouncement earlier today, the Student Press Law Center and Associated Collegiate Press confirmed that the Sun staff and adviser “endured a pattern of escalating attacks that culminated in temporarily shutting down their paper in a naked attempt to suppress coverage of a closely contested board of trustees election.”

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At the start of the previous school year, Southwestern administrators literally blocked publication of the student paper’s first issue.  They suddenly said the Sun had to follow a previously-ignored rule on the school books that required the paper “to put its printing business out to competitive bid and sign a contract with the winning bidder.”  It was nothing more than censorship, an attempt to minimize bad press about the trustees board.

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This bidding war ploy was mixed with additional censorship and threats, all aimed at stopping the Sun from asking tough questions and exposing the truth: Southwestern College has been sporting some seriously corrupt and inept admins. whose stop-the-press tactics were so evil they made Scar from “Lion King” look benevolent.

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As the Sun‘s adviser Max Branscomb told the SPLC, “What happened at Southwestern College last fall was the worst fear of journalists and Americans who cherish our precious free speech rights.”

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Fortunately, the paper fought back, running a series of fantastic reports exposing the ridiculousness and corruptness.  SPLC director Frank LoMonte: “The administrators of Southwestern College threw everything they had at these journalists, even threatening them with a trumped-up criminal investigation, and through it all, the journalists kept on doing exactly what journalists are supposed to do: Pursue the story, wherever it led. Their reporting exposed gross mismanagement at the college, including the deliberate wasteful spending of millions of dollars to conceal how badly the school had missed its budget estimates.”

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Social Media 1.0: Many Student Press Outlets Still Getting Used to ‘Living Social’

Posted in College Media, Future of Journalism, Journalism, New Media, Student Newspaper on September 28, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Should our student reporters be allowed to respond to online comments about their stories?  Should the tone of our Twitter feed be uber-serious and objective or opinionated and even a bit snarky?  What should the blog affiliated with our outlet actually feature and how often should it be updated?  And should we spread our staff responsibilities over Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Google+ or focus on rousing our readers on just one?  And who should be given the power to update on one or more of those platforms?  And when?  And how often?  And with what type of oversight?

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Many student press outlets are still wrestling with those questions– and with them the larger question of how exactly to approach and blend social media into their existing structures and responsibilities.

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As I told Nick Dean for his piece “Living Social” that just premiered online within the latest Student Press Law Center Report, “The student press is still fully ensconced in social media 1.0, with very few exceptions.  A majority of college news outlets are simply establishing their social media presence or working on building up that presence beyond a few followers and fans and defining what they want their social media outlook to be.”   (Yes, I’m quoting myself.) :)

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Amid this construction and stabs at a basic definition, actual guidelines on how social media should be used are mostly absent or have so far gone unwritten by student newspaper’s editorial boards.  For example, as Dean notes, one of the biggest social media gray areas within the campus press involves student journalists’ personal accounts on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter and their outside work on their own blogs.

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It is an issue Rebecca Walker, North Alabama University’s student publications coordinator, has seen firsthand, prompting her to work with the campus newspaper editor to draft a “student produced, student approved” social media policy that went into effect this fall.

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In her words: “We saw that students [on the school paper] had a little bit of trouble separating their online identity from how we expect them to behave publicly.  They shared opinions on things they were covering, used [foul] language and presented themselves unprofessionally online.”

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The Northern Star’s policy at Northern Illinois University asks staffers to think about their presence on the open web like their behavior in public.  Among other suggestions, staff are advised to avoid making statements of political allegiance or offering viewpoints on “polarizing issues” on web platforms that are easily viewable by tons of “followers” or “friends.”

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Bottom line, as a portion of the Star policy notes, “The Northern Star cannot dictate how its employees use social media websites on their personal time.  You have a First Amendment right to free expression.  However, as an employee of a news media organization, you have some unique challenges.  Like it or not, you represent the Northern Star at all times.”

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As Student Newspaper Archives Grow Online, Some Alums Worry About Their Google Prints

Posted in College Media, Journalism, Journalism Ethics, New Media, Student Newspaper, tagged , , , , , , on September 27, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

The evermore expansive set of student press archives being placed online continues to concern those who wish their undergrad misdeeds or heated words would stay in the past, not in their Google prints.

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As a new USA Today College piece by Ohio University journalism student Stephanie Stark confirms, “[C]ollege newspapers are uploading old print stories into their online archives, and letters and stories written by or about students in the ’70s and ’80s are coming up in Google searches on professionals who previously weren’t so publicly connected to their pasts.  Misdemeanors that would otherwise be expunged and wiped from record, letters-to-the-editor with regrettable stances and the unknowing mistakes of students in positions of leadership are published online and forever trapped in Google.”

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The online availability and searchability of old student newspapers are especially worrisome to some alums because they are often the sole outlets running stories about their youthful indiscretions– the op-ed they wrote about legalizing all drugs ASAP or their drunken swiping of an old lady’s purse that earned them a spot in the police blotter.  For example, a one-time student government presidential candidate quoted in Stark’s piece mentions being wary of employers seeing a letter to the editor discussing the time he signed a girl’s butt cheek during a block party.

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Online student press archives do at times have consequences far beyond mere butt-signing embarrassment.  During the last academic year, the editor-in-chief of The Daily Californian was forced to fight a lawsuit brought against him by the father of a former UC Berkeley student-athlete.  The suit stemmed from the paper’s refusal to erase or alter stories on its website that reported upon the student’s unruly behavior at a nightclub more than four years ago and his subsequent dismissal from the university football team.  In the end, no content was edited or deleted and the editor-in-chief won the case.

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In 2009, Center for Innovation in College Media director Bryan Murley commented on the increase in alums apprehensive about their student press trails.  In his words, “If the first thing that comes up on a Google search is something they did in college because they haven’t done anything since college, then they should participate more in the online conversation.  Hopefully five or 10 years from now, people won’t be so worried about this, because everybody will have their Internet trail, and it will become more acceptable.”

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New Hampshire Student Newspaper Editorials Stir Debate About Professor Who Exposed Himself in Public

Posted in College Media, Journalism, Journalism Ethics, Student Newspaper on September 26, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

A pair of spirited editorials in the University of New Hampshire student newspaper have drummed up a debate about the impending return of a professor who was arrested in 2009 for exposing himself in public.

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As The New Hampshire notes near the start of the first editorial, the tenured German professor apparently ”showed his penis to a mother and teenager in the parking lot of a grocery store. He then proceeded to drive down Route 101 with his genitals hanging out of his zipper as he cruised on his motorcycle.  When police pulled him over, his genitals were still hanging out.  And, UNH students, this pervert could be your professor next fall.”

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The editorial, headlined “Back in a Flash,” subsequently blasts the arbitrator who decided the incident was not enough to warrant dismissal from the university.  It criticizes the chair of the professor’s department for stating that he feels the professor “is an effective and inspiring teacher; I have no concerns about him being in the classroom.”

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It then calls for a student boycott of all the professor’s classes (set to begin next fall), in part to ensure “the floodgates to more professor perversion” are not opened.

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The piece earned praise in some corners for capturing “the very real concerns that students feel about the appropriateness of the professor’s return to the classroom setting.”  Other pockets of readers offered strong rebukes, including nearly three dozen UNH faculty who signed a public letter calling the editorial “incendiary and unfair.”

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The professor’s wife also responded harshly.  Her words: “I was surprised that at an institution of higher education where critical thinking, inquiry, tolerance, diversity and open-mindedness are revered, this type of sensationalized journalism would exist. . . . [T]he editorial written about my husband is to me so insensitive and reprehensible that it is in and of itself more damaging than the actual act of indecent exposure it wishes to condemn.”

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In a follow-up editorial last week, the New Hampshire did not budge from its initial stance.  As the paper asked, “[C]an the faculty and staff members who signed [the letter] say, with a straight face, that allowing such a man to return to the faculty of this university will not weaken the high professional standards that members of the faculty and staff on this campus are held to?  It is rather ironic that these members of the faculty and staff have turned [the professor] into a victim while disregarding the mother and daughter he victimized, seemingly alongside every member of this campus community who has ever faced sexual harassment and victimization.”

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Virginia’s Cavalier Daily Charged with Breaching Confidentiality in Plagiarism Case

Posted in College Media, Free Press Fights, Journalism, Journalism Ethics, Student Newspaper on September 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

An editorial in The Cavalier Daily apologizing for repeated plagiarism by a staff writer has angered University of Virginia’s judiciary committee.  The committee contends that the editorial breaches the confidentiality required during its investigation of the student plagiarist (for violating the school’s honor code).

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As the paper shared in an unsigned editorial earlier this month, “[I]t became clear that the writer consistently copied words and phrases from other sources including prominent news outlets, Wikipedia and a press release.  The writer did not acknowledge these sources in any way, and used their words and phrases repeatedly throughout his articles.  Editors determined that the writer did this in at least four articles, three of which were published.”

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Prior to the editorial, staffers did report the student to the judiciary committee, following the UVA code stating that those who keep quiet about violations they witness are just as accountable as the transgressor.  In the subsequent editorial, the paper did not name the student nor mention the plagiarized pieces to ensure their identity would be kept under wraps.

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Yet, after its publication, the judiciary committee charged the five Cavalier Daily staffers on the managing board responsible for the editorial with breaking its rules requiring silence about open investigations.  The official charge, as the paper itself reported, was “intentional, reckless, or negligent conduct which obstructs the operations of the Honor or Judiciary Committee, or conduct that violates their rules of confidentiality.”

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The larger question: Does the judiciary have any right to charge staffers of the school newspaper with anything?  The legal director of Virginia’s ACLU says no: “Clearly the judicial council shouldn’t be initiating proceedings against the Cavalier Daily if the judicial council’s bylaws deprive it of jurisdiction to act against student newspapers.  The fact that The Cavalier Daily could be subject to discipline for writing about a matter of great importance for the university community without divulging the name of the student in question offers great constitutional concerns.”

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So to review: A student plagiarized some pieces published in the paper.  The paper reported the student to the school.  The paper told its readers about the student’s misdeeds.  The paper got in trouble for telling its readers about the student’s misdeeds.  And finally, in an even stranger twist, the paper might get in still more trouble for telling its readers about the fact that it got in trouble in the first place.

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Why?  Because by publishing the story about the fact that the judiciary committee is investigating the paper’s managing board, the paper is AGAIN violating confidentiality rules.  Yet, as the sub-headline of a separate editorial explaining their decision to knowingly break the rules notes, “The Cavalier Daily is bound by its responsibility to readers, not the institutional interests of student government bodies.”

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Recent Journalism Grad: Dealing with ‘The Question’ & the Journalism Unemployment Myth

Posted in College Media, Journalism, Journalist Spotlight on September 22, 2011 | 1 Comment »

During the last academic year, Indiana University senior journalism student Sarah Hutchins dreaded what she called The Question, capital T, capital Q.

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“The conversations always start the same,” Hutchins wrote a month before commencement for The Indiana Daily Student’s quarterly magazine Inside.  ”‘So, what are you doing after graduation?‘  I’ve been asked by family, friends, old high school acquaintances I mistakenly friended on Facebook and never deleted.  Even my dentist broached the subject over winter break.  As she slowly reclined my chair, and I gazed into the light, I thought about how I would answer The Question.”

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She said others’ expectations centered on her having a firm plan, preferably involving an impressive starter job or grad school pursuit.  And so she sensed disappointment when she repeatedly answered The Question with a mix of “heavy sighs and visible anxiety” and the three-word fallback, “I don’t know.”

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Months later, now on the other side of a degree, Hutchins is more confident that the best plan of attack is figuring out what’s right for you regardless of peer pressure and to be open to a running start that begins off the beaten career path.  In her case, the path has been an extended post-grad internship and the realization that journalism jobs still exist en masse.

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In the Q&A below, Hutchins offers advice for the current crop of j-students and pokes holes in what she calls “the unemployment myth” surrounding the journalism profession.

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Sarah Hutchins graduated from Indiana University in the spring. She is currently completing an extended post-grad internship at The Virginian-Pilot.

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Now that you’ve graduated, has The Question you get most often changed?

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The actual question varies, but the intent is the same. “So, what are you doing after graduation?” has changed to “So, what are you doing after your internship?” Sometimes people ask me if I’ve started applying for jobs, which also gets at the heart of The Question– why are you still unemployed?  The good news is that my answers have changed a little.

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After I graduated, I moved to Virginia for a 12-week reporting internship at The Virginian-Pilot.  I applied and interviewed for jobs while I was interning.  I even had a few job offers.  Then the Pilot extended my internship and I temporarily stopped looking for work.  I also have a timeline for starting the job application process again. While I still don’t have a clear answer to The Question, I do have a plan.  After going through the job search process a few months ago, I have a better idea of what I’m looking for in a first job.  I also picked up on some of the sacrifices I’ll have to make to get it.

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What does life and the j-profession look like on the other side of the degree?  Is there anything you would do differently if given a second go-round at senior year?

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I only looked at internships when I was getting ready to graduate.  It’s a decision that makes perfect sense to me, but I’ve actually been asked to justify it in job interviews.  I’m on my fourth internship now, and this seems to baffle some employers.  Here’s what I tell them: I didn’t want to waste any time not reporting. I’ve watched friends graduate from college without a job and spend entire summers sending out job applications.  If I took a post-grad internship, I could continue to develop my skills while I apply for full-time positions.  I have also been able to fill some of the holes in my experience, making me a better job candidate.  Post-grad internship shouldn’t be considered a backup plan.  With the job market as difficult as it is, internships are a good way to gain valuable experience and contacts.  Looking back, I’m still happy with the decision I made to take an internship after graduation.

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What’s your advice for this year’s graduating j-class?

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Challenge yourself to produce great work before you graduate.  Take risks and push yourself.  One of my best clips came out of a project I did in college, and it’s something I wouldn’t have had a chance to do at an internship.  On a similar note, make sure you graduate with a well-rounded portfolio.  Be able to write a web brief, a succinct news story, a killer profile, and a thoughtful in-depth article.  It’s OK to specialize in one area, but make sure employers see that you can tackle anything. As newsrooms continue to cut employees, companies are asking people to do more with less.  Prove to them that you will be a valuable part of the team.

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What is the unemployment myth and how should students go about dismantling it?

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There are so many myths.  I can’t count the number of people I met in journalism school who told me there were no jobs in journalism.  At internships, people I worked with told me to reconsider going into this industry.  When I said I was sticking with it, they told me to use my degree for PR.  I just refuse to give up. It’s true that the industry is changing.  People are getting laid off and, as a result, everyone is asked to do more (usually for less pay).  I understand why some people would find that discouraging.  However, it’s just not true that there aren’t jobs. Take a look at journalismjobs.com and you’ll see plenty of positions for beginning reporters at small papers.  We might not all be able to start at large metro papers, but that’s OK.  If you’re in journalism for the right reasons– helping people, serving as a check on the government, telling compelling stories– than it shouldn’t really matter where you start.

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Here’s the reality I see: There are less jobs in journalism than there were before, but there are still places to get your foot in the door.  Media organizations today are asking more of employees than ever before.  However, recent j-school graduates have likely been trained to handle these competing demands.  Remember why you love this business and make sure that shines through in everything you do.  And, if people tell you to go into PR, feel free to use my standard response: You can go into PR and I’ll happily take your job.

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Google+: A ‘Ghost Town’ or ‘Best Thing Since Sliced Bread’?

Posted in Future of Journalism, New Media on September 20, 2011 | 1 Comment »

There is a web battle royale brewing over my PBS MediaShift post published yesterday afternoon in which I critique Google+ as a social networking hub / the Internet’s next big thing.

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As I mention, “Google+ is dead.  At worst, in the coming months, it will literally fade away to nothing or exist as Internet plankton.  At best, it will be to social networking what Microsoft’s Bing is to online search: perfectly adequate; fun to stumble onto once in awhile; and completely irrelevant to the mainstream web.  To be clear, I do not buy the beta argument anymore. G+ still being in beta is like Broadway’s ‘Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark’ still being in previews. It has premiered. Months have passed. Audiences have tried it. Critics have weighed in. It is a show — just not a very entertaining one.”

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Hundreds in the Twitterverse have latched onto my sentiments, offering uber-agreement about the flaws and current irrelevance of + to anyone but the technorati, mediaheads, and early adopters.  On G+, as you might guess, I am being vilified as a lazy ‘hater’ (Bill Keller of the NYT called me that!) who simply doesn’t ‘get’ how to use the service and wasn’t willing to put in enough time to learn its quirks and bask in its awesomeness.  While some comments have been asinine (oh, Internet, how we love thee), many have raised interesting issues.  So is Google+ a “ghost town” (as a writer I quote calls it) or is it “the best thing since sliced bread” (as MediaShift executive editor Mark Glaser describes one digital media evangelist’s perspective on it)?

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Below is a screenshot sampling of two write-ups about the debate spurred by the post:

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Separately, here are a slew of tweets and a well-put G+ post agreeing with my basic sentiments.  We are not haters!  We have simply not had a + experience worth our time.

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In a discussion thread on G+ earlier today, Glaser summed things up best:

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Wanted to respond to the firestorm created by the article linked below on MediaShift by +Dan Reimold. There have been responses by+Robert Scoble, +Jeremiah Owyang and +Frederic Lardinois, and many more here on Google+.

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First of all, Dan’s piece was his own experience, which was very different than my own experience. I’ve actually enjoyed being on G+ and it’s become my primary social network over Facebook and Twitter, not only because of the great interactions but also because of the privacy controls and Circles.

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However, his main issue was that he did try the service, he did post and Circle people, and didn’t get that interaction. I doubt very seriously that he is alone in that experience, and the fact that very few of my non-work-colleague, non-media friends have come here regularly proves his point. Google+ might be a hit with the in-crowd, digerati, new media types, etc. but it has a ways to go to become a hit with the masses.

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That’s not a knock on the service, in my opinion, but just a place where it lives right now. No one can say whether it will last or die, as we all know the staying power of most mass market social networks is about 3 or 4 years (if you judge by Friendster, MySpace, et al). So there’s a place for the booster like +Robert Scoble to say it’s the best thing since sliced bread (or FriendFeed) and a place for +Dan Reimold to say it’s dead to him.

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Virginia Student Newspapers’ Alcohol Advertising Fight Now in Year 5

Posted in College Media, Free Press Fights, Journalism, Journalism Ethics, Student Newspaper on September 19, 2011 | 2 Comments »

In Virginia, the alcohol ads case is currently being considered by the state’s supreme court.  Now in year five, The Cavalier Daily at the University of Virginia and The Collegiate Times at Virginia Tech continue to battle a Va. law that prohibits college newspapers from running almost any type of alcohol advertisement.

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The latest wrinkle: an attempt by the CT and CD to get around the restriction by requesting a redefinition of what constitutes a college newspaper.  Their argument: a publication serving a diverse audience of students, faculty, staff, alums, and community members should not fall under a law whose sole aim is preventing under-21 undergrads from being tempted to drink.

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While the decision regarding that specific fight is still being considered, the larger question remains: Should student media be allowed, or be inclined, to run advertisements promoting alcohol?

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From my perspective, the main reasons student media should consider running advertisements promoting alcohol, in moderation:

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  • Alcohol is a legal product, unlike, say, marijuana.  Why shouldn’t it have the right to be promoted like everything else?

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  • Editorial content and advertising are separate species.  A student newspaper that publishes a quarter-page ad about an establishment’s weekday drinks special is not endorsing the drinks special.  It is simply providing the establishment with a spot to tell people about it.

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  • Alcohol advertisements, at least explicitly, promote only drinking, not underage drinking.

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  • Alcohol ads are moneymakers.  There are a lot of clubs, bars, restaurants, liquor stores, etc. near campuses.  Why?  Because a lot of legal-age students, staff, and faculty drink.  A quality student media outlet is known as the voice of its school.  Why shouldn’t it allow popular places a chance to speak to the people they are obviously already regularly serving?

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  • Not all ads apply to everyone.  The under-21 student set simply has to wait until drinking promos apply to them, similar to the broke students who have to wait until they have enough money to afford the advertised spring break cruises.

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  • If allowed, alcohol advertising won’t be insane.  There will not be an anarchic explosion of ‘drink until you die’ inserts.

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  • Campus pubs already publish pieces about drinking– bar reviews, party scene recaps, special reports on fake IDs, commentaries involving underage drinking, etc.  Student journalists are talking about, at times even advocating, drinking.  What makes an ad any different?

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  • Alcohol ads are already EVERYWHERE, across all media.  (The Budweiser frogs and Clydesdales are basically national treasures.)  Children much younger than an incoming freshman see these ads.  Life goes on.

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  • And finally, the non-alcohol argument… Above all, student media must be free to make their own decisions on what to run, within editorial content AND advertising.

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The main reasons many student media do not run alcohol ads:

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  • Most undergraduates are under 21, making drinking promos tantalizing but irrelevant to a majority of student media’s core audience.

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  • Many student press outlets are school-controlled, making administrators wary of even the slightest semblance of drinking promotion coming from something under their watch.

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  • Legality is not an end-all, be-all argument here.  Advertising is also a matter of discretion or taste.  For example, should student media run ads for strip clubs, sex shops, firearms, the KKK or get-rich-quick schemes?  The bottom line: Ads for numerous legal organizations, entities, and activities do not often or ever appear within a campus pub’s pages.

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  • And finally, the moral argument… Drinking is a problem for some students. And many students are still coming of age.  An ad for alcohol may pressure them into behavior for which they are not yet ready or able to handle.

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What am I missing from either list? And what do you think overall of the sobering lack of drinking ads within the student press?

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College Media Hall of Fame: Vinny Vella, Former Editor-in-Chief, La Salle Collegian

Posted in CMM Hall of Fame, College Media, Free Press Fights, Journalism, Student Newspaper on September 16, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

The College Media Hall of Fame is a digital enshrinement of individuals, news outlets, and organizations who have made a lasting impact on collegemediatopia or greatly contributed to it over the past year.  Much like last year’s inaugural batch (known as the CMM 10), this year’s inductees include standout student journalists, innovative student media entrepreneurs, and impassioned advocates of campus press 2.0.  With a hat tip to the annual Time 100, many of the posts announcing each honoree include a few words of adoration penned by a close friend or colleague. Next up…

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Vinny Vella

Former editor-in-chief, The La Salle University Collegian

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The legend of Vinny Vella is built atop strippers, censorship, and a partially blank front page.  This past spring, administrators at Philadelphia’s La Salle University attempted to stonewall its student newspaper from publishing an embarrassing story about a professor hiring exotic dancers to participate in an extra-credit seminar for students.  The La Salle University Collegian, run by Vella (since graduated), had the scoop but was forced to hold off on publishing due to a temporary embargo imposed by school officials.

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After the news broke elsewhere, admins. finally gave the Collegian the green light, but only if the piece was first vetted by a university lawyer and run below the fold of the front page.  At that point, Vella decided enough was enough.  So he beat the school at its own game, by following its edict literally.

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In the subsequent issue, the paper ran nothing above the fold except a teaser to check out what was beneath it– the story its staffers had been waiting weeks to print.  The four-word message, surrounded by white space, stated simply: “See below the fold.”

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Vinny Vella, holding the Collegian's now famous front page.

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As Vella said at the time, “You need to stand up for yourself every once in a while.  You can’t let authorities intimidate you.”

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For their quick thinking and courage in the face of censorship, Vella and his Collegian co-workers are a very worthy addition to the College Media Hall of Fame.

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To read my take on the La Salle censorship situation, click here or on the screenshot below.

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Other Class of 2011 CMM Hall of Fame inductees:

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Arez Hussen Ahmed

Michael Koretzky

Frank LoMonte

Victor Luckerson & The Crimson White

Connor Toohill

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After Student’s Arrest, Is It OK to Post His Facebook Photo?

Posted in College Media, Journalism, Journalism Ethics, New Media, Student Newspaper on September 14, 2011 | 1 Comment »

A faculty adviser for a campus newspaper in California is currently in an ethical muddle.  As he explained on a popular college media list-serv earlier this week: A student at his university was expelled for marijuana possession and sales. The paper of course is planning related coverage.

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In the adviser’s words, “The student’s Facebook page has a privacy setting, but one of our editors is his FB ‘friend,’ giving her access to a (smiling) mugshot of the student that [the paper] would like to run with the story. . . . Are there ethical/legal problems with publishing that Facebook image?“

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My take: You should absolutely run the photo.  Discretion may not be this student’s strong point (exhibit A, pot bust), but he must certainly be aware that anything he posts on social media has the potential to ‘get out.’  Regardless of specific privacy settings, being on Facebook in 2011 is a public act.  You are not really in control of the pics, vids, profile info, and status updates you post.

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As long as the photo is not obscene or also includes an innocent person or shows the student in a strange light without context, I don’t have any ethical problem with running it.  Do I think papers should grab and publish random Facebook photos of students without cause and permission?  Nope.  It’s just bad taste.

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But when students become newsworthy– via an arrest, an expulsion, a student government election, a tragic car crash– their Facebook images and updates are invaluable pieces of information that can (and should!) be utilized for related stories.

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Georgia’s Red & Black Student Newspaper Premieres First Magazine Edition Online

Posted in College Media, Future of Journalism, Journalism, Magazine Journalism, New Media, Student Newspaper on September 13, 2011 | 1 Comment »

As part of its dramatic transformation, The Red & Black at the University of Georgia launched a monthly magazine edition this semester known simply by the punctuation mark &.  The first issue of the 32-page full-color glossy mag unveiled itself in print a few weeks back, according to faculty adviser Ed Morales, but made its web debut today.

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It’s definitely football heavy, appropriate given the season– UGA quarterback Aaron Murray adorns the cover and a few features inside, along with a gameday fashion spread and a separate “self-professed nerd’s guide to escaping the chaos” of the Saturday home games.

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As I reported late last month for PBS MediaShift, Red & Black, one of the largest and most-feted college newspapers in the country, dropped a bombshell on its readers and the student journalism community this fall by announcing a trio of big changes: a switch from a daily to weekly print edition; a digital-first publishing focus; and the introduction of &.

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College Media Viral Video: ‘I Want a Journalism Internship’

Posted in College Media, Journalism on September 12, 2011 | 2 Comments »

A new video that has leapt onto the social media B-list over the past week is a cautionary tale for journalism students seeking internships.

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The gist of the four-minute vid, created by Rowan University journalism professor Kathryn Quigley using the wonderful moviemaker program Xtranormal: You are NOT entitled to a high-paying gig close to home that works around your schedule simply because you want one.

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My favorite part of the funny exchange between internship coordinator and student is the long awkward pauses before the coordinator has to repeatedly say NO to the student’s selfish/clueless internship-related requests.

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Check out the vid by clicking here or on the screenshot below.

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Sampling of Student Press 9/11 10th Anniversary Coverage

Posted in College Media, Journalism, Student Newspaper on September 10, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Below is a screenshot sampling of student newspapers’ special editions or extended coverage dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks.

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The State News, Michigan State University

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The Daily Texan, University of Texas at Austin

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The Herald, Western Kentucky University

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The Daily Kansan, Kansas University

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The Arizona Daily Wildcat, University of Arizona

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The Daily Collegian, Penn State University

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The Daily Reveille, Louisiana State University

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The East Carolinian, East Carolina University

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The Daily Pennsylvanian, University of Pennsylvania

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The Nevada Sagebrush, University of Nevada, Reno

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The Daily Iowan, University of Iowa

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The Prospector, University of Texas at El Paso

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The Indiana Daily Student, Indiana University

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The Iowa State Daily, Iowa State University

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The Miami Student, Miami University (Ohio)

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The Daily Nebraskan, University of Nebraska

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The Daily Toreador, Texas Tech University

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The Daily Tar Heel, University of North Carolina

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The Red & Black, University of Georgia

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The Baylor Lariat, Baylor University

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College Media Story Idea: Student Slackliners Leading a ‘Balance Sport Revolution’

Posted in College Media, Journalism, Story Ideas, Student Newspaper on September 9, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Slacklining, a pursuit centered on finding the perfect balance, has seemingly reached its tipping point among students.

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The activity involves walking ever-so-carefully across shaky nylon webbing typically tied between two trees about a foot from the ground.  BBC News describes it as “the trampoline meets the tightrope.”  Separate enthusiasts consider it a mere hobby, a rock-climbing training technique, a form of “moving meditation” or a full-blown “balance sport revolution.”

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In numerous spots nationwide, students have become the faces of this revolution. As a recent article in The Columbia Missourian at the University of Missouri noted, “College students have especially taken to slacklining because it is relatively inexpensive, can be set up almost anywhere and is extremely entertaining.”  Missouri students started the organization Slackline Mizzou this past spring.

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University of Delaware senior Josh Martin, an active slackliner, sees the growth in similar student groups as inevitable on many campuses.  As he said to The UD Review last fall, “The Slacklining Club will be the love child of the Climbing Club and the Outing Club.”

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The activity has become so popular at the University of Washington it is apparently posing a conservation risk to campus trees.  According to a front-page report in The Daily of the University of Washington, school maintenance workers are politely asking student slackliners to refrain from tying their nylon ropes to the trees because it chips the bark.

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A university arborist told Daily reporter Sarah Schweppe, “Right underneath the bark is where the tree intakes all of its nutrients, so it could potentially girdle [strip the bark from] the tree.”

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One potential stopgap to this girdling: wrapping cardboard, towels or other protective coating around the spots the ropes are tied to the trees.  Other suggestions include using larger trees that can better sustain the chafing and constant tugging and setting up artificial tree-less slacklines.

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Regardless, the sport itself will continue, buoyed by the apparent benefits to its participants.  “Students gather daily, captivated by the difficulty and uniqueness of the sport, to meet new friends and test their stability while walking the suspended rope,” a Patriot Talon piece at the University of Texas at Tyler reported.  Separately, a student at Oregon State University told The Daily Barometer, “I really enjoy the feeling of mastering a skill.  When I am slacklining, especially on a high line, there is a moment of focus that is unparalleled in anything I have ever done.”

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Amid this unparalleled Zen, student slackliners do recognize the whole set-up appears slightly outlandish to those not familiar with the practice or its purpose.  As University of Delaware senior Lauren Demicco, a slacklining enthusiast since high school, admits, “We look like we’re walking a tightrope, so [student passersby are] like, ‘Where’s the circus?’”

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Should Student Press Outlets Charge for Online Content? If So, How?

Posted in College Media, Future of Journalism, Journalism, Student Newspaper on September 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Last winter break, a flurry of web chatter greeted the decision of The Daily O’Collegian at Oklahoma State University to begin charging select readers a minimal fee to access its online content.  As I mentioned in a related post, the paper is the first known college news outlet to attempt an online pay scheme of any sort.

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The company behind the O’Collegian‘s arrangement: Press+, which in part specializes in “flexible, sophisticated e-commerce solutions for publishers.”

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Bryan Murley, director of the Center for Innovation in College Media, supported the O’Collegian‘s attempt at the time, noting, “This is the time in journalism where we’re sort of going to the coins-in-the-couch model of making money– wherever we can get a little bit here and there to keep things going.”

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Eight months later, the question remains: Is this truly a model for other college media to follow?  Or like the formation of the NCAA superconferences, is it simply an impending reality that all of us will need to be ready for?

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Below is a quick Q&A with Gordon Crovitz, a Press+ co-founder and former Wall Street Journal publisher.  Along with selling the merits of his particular service, he speaks more generally about the reasons why student media should strongly consider setting up a pay option or requirement for their online work.  (My thanks to Alexandra Bogus at Press+ for coordinating the interview logistics.)

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What is Press+ and why might it be a benefit for student news outlets?

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Press+ was founded two years ago to enable all kinds of news publishers to help pay for journalism by generating revenues from their most active and engaged online readers. Our technology is being used by local and regional newspapers, magazines and online-only news sites, typically on a “metered” subscription model under which all visitors get free access, but readers who want unlimited access are asked to become paying subscribers. There are now more than 120 news sites using our commerce services.

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This metered approach is very different from the old-fashioned paywall, which locks down all content immediately and turns readers away. A meter gives a set number of free articles to readers every month. Thus, casual readers are unaffected. The meter is designed to target only the most avid readers, those most engaged to the brand and most willing to pay to support it.

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In the case of student newspapers, the tradition has been that they are free both online and in print. They need to serve their college community, and it makes good sense for students and faculty to have unlimited free access. But outside the immediate campus community, there are people who will either become paying subscribers or can be solicited for voluntary donations to cover the expense of the journalism.

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Press+ offers college papers two main options: The first is a geo-targeting mechanism, wherein the publisher chooses a geographic boundary such as the campus community or city and anyone accessing within that area will not encounter any messaging asking them to pay. Similarly people with an email address affiliated with the university can simply log in with that email and continue to get free access. In this way, the meter is used to target parents and alumni, those who would be most willing to support the journalism.

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The other approach is that Press+ enables student newspapers to solicit donations from supporters, such as parents or alumni. As people access the site from outside the campus community, they see messages seeking voluntary donations. They can continue to get free access, but these requests for donations can be very effective.

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What news media have implemented your service so far?

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In addition to student newspapers, among the 120 publications on the Press+ platform are daily and weekly newspapers, international news brands, magazines and online-only sites. These include newspapers from large publishers such as MediaNews and Gatehouse, online-only news sites such as GlobalPost and even the humor news site The Onion, which uses Press+ to charges for access outside the U.S.

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Among college publications are The Daily Orange at Syracuse, The Daily Free Press at Boston University and The Daily O’Collegian at Oklahoma State.

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A Donation teaser box is located at the bottom of The Daily Free Press homepage, although the links on the actual donation page appear inactive.

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The free web is still such an alluring entity.  Interest in a student press outlet can really surmount that?

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Some student newspapers will use the donation approach rather than a meter requiring parents and alumni to pay for unlimited access. But in what way will it hurt the paper to ask alumni and parents to support the publication? Two of the members of the Press+ team that works with publishers are themselves recent former editors-in-chief of their own college paper, and they can attest to the fact that having a passive “Donate” link on their homepage doesn’t bring in significant revenues. Using the Press+ meter to solicit donations, with messaging in context and based on how often someone comes to the site, increases donations significantly. This approach to donations targets those people who would be most willing to give, while keeping the publication completely free.

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For the many student news media whose quality is, ahem, uneven, how can we justify charging for access to content when, frankly, it may not be worth the price?

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The beauty behind the metered approach, as opposed to a pay wall, is that you’re only asking your most avid readers to pay. These are readers who have demonstrated a regular interest in the content and consider it worth the price. This is precisely the case within the realm of student journalism. College papers are unique because their content is unique. A college paper is often the only place where students, alumni, parents, community members, etc. can find the sort of content that college papers offer.

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One last point: The student journalists running college newspapers who hope to have a career in journalism are very aware that the traditional model is broken—advertising is simply not going to pay so much of the expense of newsrooms as it once did, especially for newspapers and magazines. This generation needs to find new revenue streams, including new ways to generate revenues from the readers who get the most value from access.

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