Why some college newspapers aren’t online, and at what cost
A great explanation from PBS’s MediaShift blog about why some universities are hesitant to allow student-run newspapers publish on the web, and at what cost.
…college news is a messy business. Students are learning, and their mistakes all too often show up in print. An online presence will broadcast those mistakes to the world, so the theory goes. Also, a college that supports student press freedoms when distributed to 2,000 people on campus might not be so keen to distribute “bad news” about the campus when the whole world is watching.
…Trumping all those considerations, staying offline is a disservice to student journalists who cannot use the online tools now widespread in the industry. A student who can’t put material online can’t really understand the impact of social networks like Twitter or Facebook to spread news. They can’t really understand what it is to create a personal brand. And they can’t really understand the challenges of multimedia production.
A college that will not allow their student journalists to practice online journalism in a “real world” setting is abandoning its commitment to education in order to save face. And that is a tragedy not only for the college, but for the students who look to higher education to prepare them for the future.
Bob Bergland notes a survey he conducted: “We were amazed to find that 36% of the 392 papers analyzed (random sample from the ~1,600 on the directory) did not have a web presence (defined as no site, a site with no content listed as being under construction or a site which had not been updated in over six months).”
There are two primary obstacles for getting a college newspaper online: One is relatively easy to overcome (technology), the other much harder but more crucial overall (institutional).
The MediaShift blog is always a great read. I’d highly recommend subscribing to the feed.
Drew, thanks for this interesting post. The issue is a tough one for university administrators trying to balance student learning and academic freedom with concerns about how the student newspaper will play with conservative alumni and donors. About 7 years ago I was a VP for enrollment and advancement at a religiously affiliated university and did not approve putting the student newspaper online with a link to our site. If I was the faculty advisor, I would have lobbied hard to do so, but I knew just how offensive some of the content would be to very conservative donors who would only view the material negatively. In today’s environment, however, I may make a different decision, given the impact of technology and social media, and the values of authenticity and transparency in play big-time right now. But still, it would be a tough call because the most conservative donors we had are not part of the paradigm shifts in the market. They are older and very values-oriented and would only give their dollars and legacy gifts to institutions that actively reflected those values. I’m thinking of one particular donor when I ask, is the obvious value of putting the student newspaper online worth possibly losing a $3M estate planning gift? That being said, if I was a faculty member now and I couldn’t get the newspaper online, I’d find other ways (like blogs) to create the online experience and get the news published online.