College Media Matters

Student staffers at The Vermont Cynic at the University of Vermont are investigating an apparent mass theft of a recent issue.  According to Chris Evans, UVM’s assistant director of student media, thieves ”cleared out every newspaper in the student center and library, the two highest-traffic readership areas on campus.”

–

As Evans shared earlier this week, “The issue that disappeared covered a number of campus crimes. Editors said they suspect that whoever took the papers didn’t appreciate the coverage, which ranged from the reporting of three drunk students arrested to a story about a would-be tennis player who used a stun-gun on his fellow students.”

–

–

Campus security officers at UVM have declined to look into the thefts themselves, declaring the newspaper free for all.  (Sigh.)

–

Cynic editor-in-chief Brent Summers: “An issue of the Cynic costs well over $1,000 to print.  We believe this is a clear infringement to the freedom of the press and a great harm has been caused to our readers. We’ve had readers stop by our office wondering where their campus news is, and at this point we don’t know what to tell them.”

–

–

–

Related

The Vermont Cynic’s Presidential Scoop: Student Paper Confirms UVM’s New Leader with 3 Knocks on a Door

–

–

The Daily O’Collegian at Oklahoma State University is enjoying marginal success with its paywall a bit more than a year into the experiment.  At the start of spring semester 2011, the paper became the first U.S. student media outlet to charge a subset of readers for its content online, requiring a $10 yearly subscription fee for individuals outside the campus area who wanted to read more than three articles per month.

–

In an excellent new piece on PBS MediaShift, Alexa Capeloto provides a progress report on the O’Colly’s efforts, confirming the paper now has 177 paid subscribers.  The numbers beat the expectations of the paper’s GM, even prompting him to slightly raise the annual subscription fee to $15.

–

As Capeloto writes, “There wasn’t any national news on the OSU campus that might have lured a burst of new paid subscribers. They came slow and steady, never exceeding three per day. Looking ahead, [the GM] has budgeted $3,000 to $4,000 in revenue from online subscribers for the next fiscal year– again, a mere drop in the outlet’s $700,000 budget, but a drop nonetheless.”

–

–

I am quoted toward the close of the report as a voice of caution, if not dissent, regarding any future expansion of similar paywall schemes throughout the student press.  The gist of what I told Capeloto during a phone chat late last week:

–

As a huge fan of innovation and experimentation within college media, I enthusiastically applaud the O’Colly for being a paywall pioneer.  Given that the financial outlooks for many student outlets have soured in recent semesters, any attempt within reason to generate revenue must be seen as a positive.  But do I think the mass adoption of paywalls by student press outlets nationwide is a good thing at this moment?  No, I do not.

–

The O’Colly is a top-tier publication, boasting daily content online and a huge alumni and supporter base worldwide interested in checking out what’s happening at OK State.  In Occupy Wall Street terms, the O’Colly is among student media’s 1 percent.

–

By comparison, a large majority of student media appeal to a very small readership.  And while their content might be appreciated, paying for it will most likely be a deal-breaker for all but a few diehards.  We need to be honest: Most student newspaper websites are nothing more than slightly repackaged versions of their print editions and are not updated more than once a week.  For free, they are fun reads, but they don’t exactly scream worth-a-fee quality.  Even with an uber-cheap paywall, it is hard to imagine most papers getting 17 subscribers, let alone 177.

–

Along with potentially turning away readers without generating much revenue, paywalls at heart also go against the purpose of the student press.  For the moment, campus media are still learning vehicles more than moneymaking ventures.  In that spirit, students must be able to share, share, share their work with others, without restriction, enabling them to join a larger conversation and learn firsthand about reporting and interacting with the public beyond the classroom or campus.

–

They also must be able to promote that work, and themselves.  I dislike the notion that students may have to add an addendum to all articles placed on their online portfolios or within all messages sent to prospective employers.  (“You can look at the first three for free, but then you have to pay or I can send you a one-time special access code or here it is simply in the text of an email…”).

–

And what about when big news breaks– a campus shooting, out-of-control protests, a visit by a head of state– and media and a mass audience are seeking constant updates?  I recall months back when the O’Colly had a situation of interest that was mentioned on a popular college media advisers’ list-serv.  A number of advisers wanted to read the newspaper’s pieces, but of course quickly ran into a paywall brick wall.

–

There are undoubtedly loopholes galore allowing the right people to see things for free at the right time, but the idea of only being free under special circumstances versus being accessible-by-default seems backward at the student level.  In this respect, lastly, there is the rabbit hole argument.  I actually think the worst thing that can happen for the student press is not for paywalls to fail, but for them to be marginally successful.  Why?  Because that will institute even greater reader restrictions.

–

In just the past year, the O’Colly has raised its annual subscription fee– and it doesn’t even have 200 subscribers?!  But it’s a typical move.  For example, The New York Times recently reduced its monthly free article count by half, right around the one-year anniversary of its paywall.  It seems the realization that a niche effort like this can generate even a little bit of money triggers a desire to squeeze even more money out of it.

–

So do I think the O’Colly’s minimally-priced, fairly-limited paywall restriction is troublesome currently?  No, not really.  What worries me is what will come next, because the trend appears to be higher prices and ever-fewer free reads.

–

What do you think???

–

–

An editor of The SOAS Spirit, the student newspaper serving the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, has quit in protest over alleged censorship.

–

In a public letter of resignation posted yesterday afternoon (U.S. time) on Facebook, Gloria de-Waal Montgomery charges the student union with temporarily delaying publication of the Spirit‘s current issue and removing an article she penned about “potential corruption” within the union regarding possibly “missing charity money.”

–

–

As she writes, “I apologise in advance for posting this here, but I feel it is the only avenue left.  After two years of working as an editor of the SOAS Spirit newspaper, I have today decided to quit due to its lack of independence and responsibility towards the student body.  I have spent the last 6 weeks gathering information on potential corruption within the [student] union: the basketball team and the funds that were raised for their tour.  This involved trying to address why the basketball team has been so resistant to handing their tour money over, despite multiple requests over the past 12 months.

–

“Despite the effort I put in to interview the appropriate actors . . . the entire paper was held back from being released this month due to the controversy surrounding my article. I have today been informed that my piece will not to go to print. . . . There has been pressure by certain members of the union to not go to print with the paper until they deem it appropriate. Thus my article was deliberately held back due to ‘internal pressure’ from the union.  At this rate, I feel I have no choice but to resign as publicly as possible so students know that not everyone at the paper is in agreement with what has taken place.  Freedom of speech is meaningless if it does not include the freedom to criticise.”

–

Beneath the letter, de-Waal Montgomery posted the full draft of the story at the center of the controversy and alleged censorship.

–

–

The Daily Reveille at Louisiana State University earned some online flak this past weekend from a pocket of readers for identifying an apparent student suicide victim prior to an official confirmation.  The campus newspaper instead relied on students’ tweets and wall posts that named the victim while expressing grief over his death.

–

The specific Daily Reveille update under scrutiny: “8:18 p.m.– University Relations has not yet confirmed the identity of the student, but posts on Facebook and Twitter suggest the student was [I'm omitting name for now], a freshman finance major in the Sigma Chi fraternity.”

–

–

On a message board hosted by the LSU fan site TigerDroppings.com, some commenters criticized the paper’s decision to identify the student solely on the basis of social media chatter.  One no-holds-barred example: “As someone who has taken approximately zero journalism classes in my life, I believe that a paper, even a shitty one like TDR, should be held to a higher standard than what they showed last night.  Publishing the name of a student that just took their own life hours before is a pretty low move, IMO.  Stating that their ‘source’ is Facebook or Twitter is just fricking pathetic.  It is in poor taste to publish the kid’s name before the university has released it.”

–

Another example: “[T]hey definitely should have waited for LSU to officially release something.  Citing Twitter was pretty unprofessional and disrespectful.”

–

In a separate message to me, an LSU student who admitted bias because she was a friend and classmate of the victim stated, “Is nothing sacred?  Why name him at all?  What is the use? . . . The family is going through enough without this being blasted out there.  Just because it’s being talked about by some people online doesn’t mean it should be free reign for a newspaper to print. . . . I thought journalists had higher standards.”

–

What do you think?  In the wake of incidents like the Onward State Paterno faux-death tweet, should the paper have restrained itself and checked with additional trusted sources before identifying the student?  Should it be publishing the student’s name to begin with, regardless of where the confirmation comes from?  And is verification of information via social media appropriate for situations involving suicide and death?

–

I reached out to Daily Reveille EIC Matthew Jacobs late Sunday night.  He kindheartedly responded uber-quick with some thoughts worth considering:

–

“Such a decision is not made lightly.  There has been talk back and forth regarding when it’s appropriate to publish a suicide victim’s name, if at all.  I know many professional papers take the stance that suicide should never be a news item unless it involves a public figure.  If I were running a metro paper, I’d probably take the same stance.  Things are different on a college campus, though.

–

“Even at a large school like LSU, gossip and the rumor mill operate within a fairly isolated bubble, especially now that social media is so dominant in college students’ lives. It’s vital, therefore, for a college newspaper to be the arbiter of such gossip and to provide definitive answers. While there are times when I would not accept social media as a news source, there are other times when information is so ubiquitously known that it becomes corroborative.

–

“There was a flood of attention across social media from LSU mourners and sympathizers who pinpointed the suicide victim’s name.  Dozens of posts across the Internet naming the same person left little doubt, particularly the ones written on the victim’s own Facebook page, which anyone can see because it’s accessible to the public.  LSU is big but close-knit, especially the Greek community, and we felt the news was universally accepted enough so that we weren’t releasing anything people didn’t already know.  We were sure not to include details about the method by which the suicide was committed or the circumstances, because those things become gritty and gossipy.

–

“Since the story broke, we have received confirmation from the university’s chancellor and police department.  The chancellor identified the victim’s name in an e-mail, so there’s no question that we would have included it in Monday’s print story if we hadn’t already.  That sourcing has since been updated online.”

–

–

The former student media director at East Carolina University is no longer attempting through legal channels to regain his position, more than three months after a termination that involved discussions of a streaker and free speech.

–

In January, prior to the start of spring semester, ECU officials fired Paul Isom without warning or much explanation.  The sudden dismissal prompted speculation among many in collegemediatopia that it was related to the The East Carolinian’s infamous ‘streaker’ photo published the previous November on its front page.  A barrage of public criticism from journalism and First Amendment advocacy organizations quickly followed.

–

For example, in a public letter sent to ECU’s chancellor and its board of trustees chairman, Student Press Law Center executive director Frank LoMonte noted SPLC’s deep concern with what it considered a “personnel decision . . . [that] carries profound implications for the overall climate for free expression on campus, and in particular for the willingness of student journalists to publish material that provokes strong public reaction, as journalists must.”

–

–

A joint statement released Friday by Isom and ECU declared the speculation and concerns invalid, stating that “Isom’s separation from his role was because of a difference in philosophy, not for cause. . . . While the timing [in respect to the streaker photo saga] drew some criticism from First Amendment advocates, Isom has acknowledged that it resulted from a difference in his professional philosophy and the expectations of the university.”

–

In case that wasn’t clear, the phrase ‘difference in philosophy’ pops up in the statement one more time, in a quote from an ECU administrator: “This separation reflected a difference in philosophy and a desire to take student journalism at the East Carolinian in a new direction.”  The headline of the statement: “Difference in Philosophy.“

–

–

As part of the settlement, Isom is getting six months’ back-pay, totaling more than $30,000.

–

–

Related

East Carolina Hires Interim Adviser to Lead Campus Newspaper Weeks After Student Media Director’s Firing

Latest Round in East Carolina Fired Director Fight: Release of Director’s Personnel Records

East Carolina Fired Director-Streaker Saga Update: A School Statement and a CMA Inquiry

East Carolina Journalism Faculty, FIRE, SPLC Rally Around Ousted Student Media Director

Former East Carolina Student Media Director Considers Lawsuit, Other Options to Contest Firing

–

–

A student writer has been fired and two editors are resigning from The Reporter at the Rochester Institute of Technology amid discoveries of plagiarism within two recent stories.

–

According to a statement appearing in the weekly campus magazine’s current issue, copycatting was first spotted within a profile of a student-run sports news program.  Infinity Quad editor Chris Zubak-Skees confirms the offending article “contains phrases that are nearly identical to a [university PR] story, SportsZone‘s website, and a web page for the College Television Awards.”  It also sports at least one major factual snafu and spelling error.

–

–

At an emergency meeting called after complaints were first leveled at the piece, the RIT editorial board “investigated the writer’s entire body of work, as well as the past three issues in their entirety, in an effort to ensure that there were no other instances of plagiarism in our recent publications.  We discovered that one of the writer’s other articles, ‘A Woman’s Guide to Manscaping‘ (Vol. 61, Issue 22), also contained plagiarized content .”

–

–

The writer was immediately fired.  The two editors who oversee the sections in which the sullied stories appeared– the sports editor and leisure editor– have voluntarily offered their resignations effective once replacements are hired.  And both pieces have been removed from the Reporter website.  (The image above is a screenshot of the cached version.)

–

–

A portion of the editorial board statement, hand-signed by nine top editors (including the two planning to resign), states, “We deeply regret and assume full responsibility for this error. . . . Reporter’s editorial board will undergo more rigorous training to ensure that they are aware of their roles in the magazine. We will be reviewing our editorial policy regarding fact checking and attribution. We will be having professional journalists speak to our staff on the matters of ethics and purpose. We are also looking to acquire commercial anti-plagiarism software such as Turnitin.”

–

–

Related

Rochester Student Magazine Changes ‘F-ck Cats’ Cover of April Fools’ Issue at Request of School Officials

–

–

A column on a fascinating student fashion trend published earlier this week in The George-Anne at Georgia Southern University has earned an outsized helping of scorn from online commenters.  (Hat tip to the wonderful Keith Warburg.)

–

The piece by Georgia Southern student Courtney Escher snidely attacks the rising number of undergraduate women who have apparently fallen prey to the “Giant-T-Shirt-Non-Pants (GTSNP) virus.”  According to Escher, this fashion statement of sorts typically involves “females wearing giant T-shirts and a form of non-pants and usually include[s] severe cerebral malfunctioning, or stupidity.”

–

–

As she further explains, satirically equating students sporting these outfits with zombie-like creatures:

–

“First you will notice the T-shirt.  It will be larger than the female wearing it by at least three sizes and will normally be a bright color, sometimes with anywhere from one to many logos for local businesses, fraternity formals and bars printed on them.  Next, you will notice the lack of pants. Anyone can wear a T-shirt and jeans but the virus calls for a lack of pants.  Please be warned: Leggings and athletic shorts are not pants.  Do not be confused; it could be the difference between your life and death.  Other things you may notice are Rainbow brand flip-flops or a Polo Ralph Lauren ball cap.  Essentially, the infected will display signs of preparing to go to the gym, without ever going to the gym.  The infected may appear healthy by wearing full prom make-up – trust me when I say this is a trap.”

–

The column’s perceived attack on some Georgia Southern women, specifically sorority girls, has spurred intense interest (more than 1,700 Facebook Likes) and a commenting offensive rarely seen on the website of a smaller student newspaper.

–

Among the posted feedback: “This might be the dumbest article I have ever read.”; “How dare you insult someone’s intelligence based on the things they wear TO CLASS?”; “Do you know how long woman have worked to be able to wear what they want?” and “You should just rewrite this and say ‘I don’t like the Greek community.’  I’m not a journalist, but reading stuff like this makes me want to sign up for the George-Anne just to counterattack.”

–

–