On May 30, WRAL published a piece titled “Despite declining newspaper revenue, student journalists hopeful about future,” in which it discussed the monetary difficulties that college newspapers, namely the Technician, face. Although the piece had good intentions, WRAL misrepresented who we are as a student-run publication.
The story had only two quoted sources, both of whom are administrators who do not lead the Technician, do not produce our content and do not speak on our behalf. By failing to contact even one of the 100-plus student journalists working for the Technician, WRAL’s reporters did not give us the opportunity to speak for ourselves.
We’re not surprised that this happened. In the context of higher education, administrators are often seen as more reputable; university students, despite being predominantly adults, are still seen as less competent and immature.
In addition to poorly selecting sources, not mentioning our new tabloid format and only having a brief footnote for other universities, the story did not get at the heart of the truth. We are seeing a decline in revenue, like the rest of the industry. Classifieds are now posted on Craigslist, and advertisers have valued digital over print media for years. But attributing our decision to move to publishing a physical paper twice a week to budget cuts was a severe oversight on the part of the reporter.
We were not financially forced to make this call. We do not see this change as a burden, but rather as an opportunity for growth. Student newspapers allow students to actively experiment with the medium and grow personally and vocationally.
As we explicitly outlined in last week’s Letter from the Editor, published five days prior to WRAL’s story, we chose to reformat our production schedule to redefine ourselves as a web-first publication. Readers no longer access their news primarily via print. When you could have up-to-the-minute information at the ease of a click, why would your first choice be to pick up a newspaper that’s been sitting on stands for hours?
In the coming year, we want to focus our efforts toward producing a paper that is physically easier to read, flexible for new design elements and filled with more engaging content, all with the goal of making ourselves relevant in the time of smartphone applications and social media.
Though your work is disappointing, WRAL, nobody is perfect. Far too often, articles are misleading or full of holes. But we all can do better. As members of the press, we must strive for quality coverage if the art of journalism is to stay relevant.
