College Media Matters

Emily Tolan, a graduating senior at Savannah College of Art & Design, has put together a fascinating new video detailing the social media response of the public, press, government, and law enforcement to the Boston Marathon bombings.  The vid, posted Saturday on SCAD’s digital news outlet District, has already racked up more than 30,000 views.

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As SCAD’s assistant director of student media Allison Bennett Dyche mentioned on a popular college media list-serv, “[I]t’s been chosen as a Vimeo Staff Pick and it’s been shared through Fast Company, Minnesota Public Radio, reddit and more.”

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Being of the male species– after my eyes widened at the header– I showed this piece to several female colleagues and friends.  What were their reactions? Appreciative laughter, followed by anecdotes confirming The New School Free Press op-ed’s basic premise.

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A snippet of the piece by Alina Ramirez: “Given the plethora of commercials circulating on the TV airways, women now have as many options for feminine products as they do for makeup.  There are pads with wings, pads for the ‘light’ days, ‘pearl’ tampons, cardboard tampons, and even organic cotton tampons, oh and scented ones– the list goes on.  So of course it would be easy to assume that we’ve come a long way with our menstrual technology, and that, in New York City, we would be the first ones to have a very sleek feminine product dispenser in our bathrooms.  Not really.”

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It is the first time I’ve ever come across the term “menstrual technology.”

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Related

Student Press Headlines That Make Me Giggle: Poop and Mold Edition

Student Press Headlines That Make Me Giggle: Columbia University’s ‘War on Fun’

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There are major changes afoot for student media at Marquette University– and at least some of the students and media being affected do not like them one bit.

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The university student media board’s plan is a convergent extravaganza “meant to spark increased digital-first content and collaboration between its six branches”– including two student newspapers, a television station, a radio station, and an advertising club.

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As part of the plan, The Marquette Tribune will be published much less in print, focusing instead on web and mobile– the board cites a recent readership audit that found lots of papers are not being grabbed from campus newsstands.  In a related sense, an executive student board will oversee and push staffers among all media “branches” to collaborate and produce content daily for a single site.

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Sounds great?  Not to some students.  An editorial response in the Tribune: “[W]hat we see is a hastily produced plan that blatantly ignores student input and . . . [and] puts the quality of student media at risk. . . . [T]he Student Media Board’s plan is a never-before-seen, arbitrary model for convergence that places web hits and digital performance ahead of quality reporting and good content.”

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Among the concerns voiced by the Trib:

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1) The restructuring pushes collaboration to such extremes the independence and identity of each individual media outlet and org is in danger.

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2) The board is loosely basing the plan on one at Louisiana State University, but in the end “it strayed from that model to create something from scratch that doesn’t have an example of previous success.  Making up a structure– seemingly out of thin air– does not point to a promising outcome for student media.”

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3) In rolling out the plan, the ideas of a few board members are being treated as golden, while the genuine solutions and concerns of the many students currently in the campus media muck and mire are being glossed over.

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4) The chance for students to excel in one editorial and technological area is being tossed in favor of them experimenting and “being mediocre in three or four.”

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Separately, at the tail-end of a goodbye letter published Friday, outgoing Trib managing editor Maria Tsikalas writes, “Through my work in the Office of Admissions, I have been asked by four incoming freshmen this week how to get involved in the Tribune. They don’t ask how to get involved in an ambiguous, ‘converged’ position that no one will see; rather, they ask how to join a publication that will improve their writing and storytelling abilities and will give them meaningful, journalistic work as well as an audience of 3,500 readers.  It is my sincere hope for them and for all future students that they will still find an opportunity at Marquette to do just that.”

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As I’ve previously posted, the battle for Marquette journalism’s future has been ongoing– tackling issues of student media at-large, the Trib specifically, and related classes and the curriculum as a whole.

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Related

Print Cut Fight Goes Digital: Trouble at Marquette Tribune Leads to ‘Outpouring of Support’ Online

Tribune: Marquette Journalism Program Changes Trigger ‘Frustrations Among Students That Cannot Be Ignored’

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“Love yourself!”  ”Love God!”  ”Men?”  ”Why do we allow ourselves to live in a world of poisons that are not quite fatal?”  ”In my 20 years [of] life I have had a crush on 3 people.  But I didn’t show it. Why?  Because they’re all girl/woman.”

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For the past semester, Kimberly Veklerov has been detailing these “anonymous musings” and others like them in a unique blog for The Daily Californian.  Each week, Veklerov engages in campus restroom stall stakeouts, searching for one-of-a-kind glimpses into the minds and moods of (mostly female) students and staff at the University of California, Berkeley.  (She said she ventured into a few men’s rooms “only to scamper out suffocated by the stench.”)

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Her blog, called “Murmurs from the Bathroom Wall,” is not suffocating, but intoxicating.  On spec, it is the most fascinating online feature of its kind I’ve come across within college media in quite some time.

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One example of her work: a March column focused on a question etched into a university library bathroom stall, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”  As Veklerov wrote, “Beneath it is a series of responses from various individuals that, taken together, forms a hypothetical bucket list of tasks that will probably never be completed.”

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The bucket list– including answers such as “live by myself on a mountain” and “have a threesome– oh yeah”– inspired her to consider her own fearless dreams and the undergraduate realities holding her back.  In her words, “Before graduation, all these idealistic notions are fine and dandy, but I worry that with diploma in hand, I will become a sell-out who is more concerned with making a livable wage than with devoting myself to repairing the world.”

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So why has she been devoting her time to graffiti?  As Veklerov indirectly explains through someone else’s graffiti message: “We all come here to poop and pee, with some secrets and kind words of advice at heart.  Many are anonymous and free, yet they are all pieces of art and mean a lot to me.”

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In a goodbye letter published in today’s paper, outgoing Daily Free Press editor-in-chief Emily Overholt writes that adrenaline mixed with guilt while covering the Boston Marathon bombings and subsequent citywide shutdown.

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Yesterday, during her last night in the Free Press newsroom, she wrote a “Final Word” about her time at the helm of the respected Boston University pub.  As you might have guessed, a majority of the letter dealt with events of the last three weeks.

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In Overholt’s words, “In the week we were reporting on the bombings and the manhunt we all grew up a little.  And every night I went home exhausted and rattled but so incredibly proud of the friends I work with four nights a week.  [In] many ways, I feel guilty.  The FreeP got some national attention thanks to our marathon coverage. For one week, no press officer scoffed at us when we called for credentials. We were taking the college media world by storm, but it was at the expense of three deaths and hundreds of injuries. . . . And when I start to feel guilty, I remember I’m not trained to help injured people, to help people deal with tragedy. I’m trained to tell their stories. And I hope we did that this semester.”

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In a separate interview with ABC News posted yesterday, Overholt spoke about the unusually large number of tragedies– large and small– befalling BU students.  Most recently, this past weekend, a senior died in a house fire.

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As ABC News reports, “In all, an ‘unprecedented’ 11 BU undergraduate and graduate students have died in the past 13 months, said BU spokesman Colin Riley.  ’We get them in these little clusters,” said [Overholt].  ’It’s hard, because it’s really catching up to people. It’s one thing after another.’  Overholt, 21, said she never expected to write so many obituaries working for the paper. . . . She called it a ‘nonstop barrage of bad news for BU.’”

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Related

Students Reflect on Larger Lessons, Questions from Boston Bombings

Boston Bombing Suspect: Former Classmates Tell Harvard Crimson He Was ‘Pretty Much a Friend to Everyone’

Boston Marathon Blasts: Student Newspaper Front Pages

Boston Marathon Blasts: BU Student Photographer’s Pic Picked Up by New York Times, AP, Reuters

Boston Marathon Blasts: Harvard Crimson Posts Running List of ‘Harvard Affiliates’ Confirmed OK

Letter in Boston College Student Paper: BC Professor Who Hates Running Vows to Enter 2014 Boston Marathon

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It’s good news/bad news day at The Daily Reveille, Louisiana State University’s student newspaper.

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First, the good news.  The Reveille has received the Society of Professional Journalists’ top billing.  Earlier today, the SPJ named it the national winner in the “Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper” category.  To be clear, among big wins, that’s a Super Bowl Victory.

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Now, the bad news.  The paper lost the lawsuit its top editor recently filed against LSU. As I posted last month, Reveille EIC Andrea Gallo sued the university to obtain records related to the school’s presidential search– a process conducted with such cringe-inducing secrecy even the names of the finalists have not been revealed.

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As Gallo said at the time, “I was hoping throughout the entire search process that LSU would work with us so we, as reporters, could give our readers insight into who the next president of LSU would be and what qualities we were looking for in that person. It became apparent pretty early on that our access was not only limited, but practically blacked out.”

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That blackout will continue for now, pending Gallo’s decision about whether to appeal. Strangely, this pro-secrecy ruling is completely at odds with a separate judge’s recent decision in what was essentially the same dispute.  As NOLA.com reports, “Five days after one East Baton Rouge Parish judge ordered LSU to turn over the names of 35 candidates for the university presidency to NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune and the Advocate, a second judge ruled the opposite way in a nearly identical lawsuit brought by [Gallo].”

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Student press bias?  Murky area of the law?  An example of how much hinges on the personal beliefs of the judge?

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Related

Daily Reveille Editor Sues LSU to Obtain Names of Presidential Candidates

LSU’s Daily Reveille Providing Standout Isaac Storm Coverage

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“I’m a 34-year-old NBA center.  I’m black.  And I’m gay.”  With those words, published yesterday in a Sports Illustrated cover story, Jason Collins became an instant American icon.

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The veteran NBA player is now the first active male athlete in one of America’s four premier sports leagues– the NBA, NHL, MLB, and NFL– to publicly declare he is gay.

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As his announcement continues to reverberate across the public, press, and sporting landscapes, there are a plethora of potential spin-off stories worth pursuing that may be relevant to your campus or higher education in general.  Here are five possible news and feature pieces to consider.

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1) The Obvious.  Grab reactions from students, faculty, and staff at all levels and in all parts of your school– from the university president, a campus Christian coalition representative, and student-athletes and coaches to student super-fans, foreign exchange students, and members of the LGBTQ community.  Along with grabbing your own reactions, check the social media feeds of prominent and everyday students and staff.  Any especially out-of-the-blue, passionate or vitriolic tweets or status updates?

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2) The Check-In.  Use the Collins declaration as a platform for a progress report on where your school stands on gay rights, education, and awareness issues.  How accepted and safe do LGBTQ students and staff feel in 2013?  What incidents have campus security or administrators dealt with in recent semesters?  What related research are professors pursuing?  What related classes or course content is being offered?  What have been the turnouts for, and relative successes of, related campus events? And what revisions have been made to the school’s admissions, housing, and student life guidelines?  Separately, speak to alumni to determine the campus atmosphere in past eras.

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3) The Neutral Movement.  At a growing number of colleges and universities– in middle America and along the coasts– students are protesting, passing resolutions, and publishing commentaries calling for more gender-neutral housing and restroom options.  The push appears to be part of a larger student-led fight on some campuses for greater “transgender inclusiveness,” something The Oklahoma Daily hailed last spring as being at the heart of “this generation’s civil rights movement.”  What is the status of the gender-neutral fight at your school, if one exists?

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4) The Fame Factor.  In a new report, The Huffington Post confirms one major side-effect of Collins’ announcement is an opportunity for him “to be of some value to big brands looking to capitalize on his newfound fame.”  Sexual orientation aside, what students or staff at your school have suddenly found themselves on a rocket trip to fame-town?  What precipitated the extreme exposure?  And what have their post-fame experiences been like– short-term and long-term?

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5) The Support System.  In his first-person piece for SI, Collins expresses great admiration for one of his aunts.  Being the first relative he told, her understanding made him “comfortable in my own skin.”  Who do students most often utilize as their own support systems?  Why has a particular family member or friend been placed in the number-one supporter role?  And what do students recall about the suport they have been given or given to others during a major moment of personal or even national trauma?

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For hundreds of additional ideas, check out my new book Journalism of Ideas: Brainstorming, Developing, and Selling Stories in the Digital Age.  One early supporter calls it “an instant classic” and “the next new mandatory text for college journalists.”  Order a copy today.

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