The University of Wisconsin-River Falls
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The Student Voice journalists are 'learners like all students'
Like all campus newspapers, The Student Voice, UW-RF's student-run weekly, gets its share of criticism. What goes into this production? The Voice may be UW-RF's most misunderstood public symbol. HANNA MHLONGO reports.
The Student Voice journalists spend more than half of their school time working on the newspaper every week and not earning much.
The editor-in-chief of The Student Voice in spring of 2000, Kevin O'Brien, worked 21 hours a week and made about $140 every two weeks. The assistant editor, Rachel Weddig, worked more than 15 hours a week, earning $120 every two weeks.
Weddig had another job in which she put in another 15 hours a week so as to be able to earn enough money to cover her daily expenses. (The chief copy editor, page editors and other editors earn from $30- $70 week; staff writers do not earn money for stories they contribute.)
Weddig said: "I'm doing it because working on the paper will help my career. The job I'm doing now gives me a chance to learn about decision-making and newsroom management. Each time I write or edit a story I know that I'm learning."
For O'Brien it is the love of the trade that motivated him every week. "I'm at a stage now where I enjoy what I do for The Student Voice more than classes. I also love the fact that we put the newspaper out by ourselves."
Staff writer Erik Astin, a journalism major, was the assistant editor of the paper's "Off-Beat" section, which carries reviews and news about entertainment last semester. When he started writing for The Student Voice, the criticism used to bug him, but not any more. "I think it depends on your personality. I've seen some of the journalist worked up when people criticize their stories."
"Some of the things we are criticized for - the picture quality - are not in our control. And sometimes I feel that people make all these criticisms because they are not aware of how the newspaper works."
But this is what Astin feels is the biggest insult: "When people say they don't read the newspaper any more. They don't understand that there is always turnover - new people come in all the time."
Astin sees The Student Voice and other campus media organizations as great tools to give students hands-on experience in journalism. "Maybe the difference between us and other students is that people get to see what we are learning to do every week. One of the things I always say is that my job as a journalist is not to satisfy people but to inform them, and obviously that goes hand in hand with reporting responsibly."
The Student Voice advisor, journalism department professor Pat Berg, said the criticism against the campus newspaper does not worry her. "People in every community have complained about their newspapers, all throughout history. Our community is no different. But look around campus and you'll see people reading The Student Voice. It's important to people. But it's like streets - you don't notice them until something is wrong."
"The media have never been popular with the public. If they do things right they make people look at issues differently. If The Student Voice is reporting trouble on campus, people are not going to be comfortable with that."
"We must also remember that this is a product for the students by the students. It's their fees, not public taxes. Even as an advisor I don't have any say as to what is published in the newspaper."
But Berg believes that proof reading must be improved in the paper. She attributes copy errors to the fact that the journalists are overworked and there is no one to go through the pages on production night. However, she also points out that people forget that these are students who are here to learn.
"If they were polished they would be out of college," she said.
She believes that in general The Student Voice is doing a great job considering the circumstances they work under. "The students are working very hard writing stories and putting a lot of hours in their work and not making much money," she said.
Weddig believes some of the mistakes are inexcusable. "There are things that shouldn't be in the newspaper - misspelled names; misquoting people; getting a title wrong. I hate seeing those things more than anything, and these are the things that students need to learn from."
Like Astin, she attributes some of the criticism to the lack of knowledge of how newspapers work. "Many people don't know beyond a story and a picture what goes into producing an issue every week. I wish they would spend time at The Student Voice and see how much work we do," Weddig said.
O'Brien is not bothered very much by what people say about their product. "Since I started working in The Student Voice, I have heard people making many comments about the paper. Although sometimes it is awkward when they are critical, it shows that they are reading the paper. I guess it would be bad if people would not say anything."
He also feels that there are those who appreciate what they are doing. "I've had some professors in classes that I take commenting about some of the stories that I wrote. And that is encouraging."
The Student Voice online editor and columnist Max Date uses the criticism he gets for his columns as motivation and to hone his skills. Although he cares about what people say about his writing, he says: "I believe that you are entitled to your opinion as long as you can back up what you claim."
He thinks that some people wish to use The Student Voice as a fluffy, feel-good newsletter for the university. "For goodness sake, we are here to report truth," Date said. "People must differentiate between public relations and journalism."
However, the UW-RF radio and television journalists seem to be faring smoothly. According to advisor/general manager Rick Burgsteiner, the radio station, WRFW, doesn't receive much criticism. "The common complaints we get are from people who say they don't like the music we play. And during school break we air Wisconsin Public Radio. When school resumes, we often have listeners asking why public radio is no longer broadcast 24 hours/day."
But criticism of the media is not peculiar for The Student Voice only; the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire campus newspaper, The Spectator, has its fair share of criticism. The paper's editor in chief, Jonathan Gneiser, said that they often are lambasted for "bloops".
However, Gneiser feels that criticism is part of the job. "Our readers expect a quality product, and when we don't meet their expectations, they let us know that. We need to learn from our mistakes so that there isn't anything left to criticize."
Gneiser believes that campus media should be managed by students themselves. The university doesn't need to employ anyone to oversee the news product beside the advisor. And he believes the best advisors are those who adopt a hands-off approach but are available to answer questions.
Sandy Ellis, an associate professor of journalism, said, to an extent, students must appreciate having some of their work errors pointed out to them. "However, some folks go farther than that. They lambaste the students both in public and in private. Students producing the radio, television and newspaper information are among the few on campus whose work is in the public eye all the time. And too seldom do the students receive compliments when they do a good job."
"In general, I think all our campus media product could use some tightening up. I'd like to see fewer beginner's mistakes. Our copy on media should be proofed more thoroughly by the students involved," Ellis said.
University of Wisconsin-River Fall.
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The Online Journalist. Copyright 2001
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