Turning Around the Student Newspaper by David A. Sacash
Journal of Mass Communication
at Francis Marion University
Winter 2007, Volume 1, Number 3
Turning Around the Student Newspaper
by David A. Sacash
When I assumed the role of adviser for the student newspaper at Francis Marion University five years ago, we had a computer, a desk, a phone and a nearby office that was used to store obsolete computer equipment and back issues of the newspaper.
In those days, if a student could carry a reporter’s notebook and show up for an event before it was over, there was a spot on The Patriot editorial staff for them. Those days are history. Today, if a student reporter doesn’t hustle to meet a deadline, they will be benched.
My assignment on day one was to turn the student newspaper into a quality publication. Major changes were implemented along the way, but it was not where the paper needed to be. All that changed in 2007 when Lindsay Reilly, a senior with a 4.0 GPA and lots of drive, was named editor of the Patriot. The Ohio native had been the paper’s assistant editor.
I first met Reilly when she enrolled in one of my classes. She made quite an impression and it didn’t take long for me to realize my future student newspaper editor was sitting in my class. There was no doubt she had the smarts and toughness to take The Patriot to the next level.
Once I named Reilly editor, her command center would be the old storage room at the newspaper office. As we moved forward, we knew some members of the editorial team were not going to cut it the following year. Reilly was given the green light and my support to bring in a fresh team to remake the paper. This was not a popularity contest. Reilly can be charming while firm at the same time. She had to go nose to nose with students who fought the new direction. She learned to tell students “no” when they wanted to hear “yes.”
We talked over the summer and worked on the new design. She had a vision for the newspaper. The paper format went from a tabloid to a broadsheet publication. The Patriot was going to look and feel like a newspaper. The editorial staff would also launch a new web site.
When the fall semester arrived, the delivery truck dropped off 3,000 copies of the newspaper. We knew we had a quality newspaper when we looked at the first issue.
That was expected.
The surprise was the on campus reaction.
The newspaper instilled a new sense of pride in the students. Students would comment on the new look. We had the “Wow Factor” with the new design. “The paper makes me feel good,” one senior said. “I’m proud of it. This paper is just as good as the student newspaper at USC (University of South Carolina).”
Faculty members stopped me on the way to class to tell me how great the newspaper looked. The Faculty Senate took notice, along with FMU staff members. We had made a difference at FMU.
The first week the paper was published, our readers told us they thought the paper was another publication because it looked so professional. I also learned the students and faculty like to read copy with an edge.
We were the buzz of the campus. The local TV station interviewed Reilly. In the first issue, The Patriot announced it would cover news in a new way at FMU. The Patriot was going to publish hard news based on solid journalism. And the Nov. 12 issue of the paper backed up that statement.
The headline in that issue read: “NCAA Report: Edwards Broke Rules.” The story described how the current FMU basketball coach violated NCAA rules while a coach at his former school. This was big news and the student newspaper wanted the story.
At FMU, the newspaper is a student activity. The publication is student run and the editor decides what is covered. This is not the faculty newspaper. It is the editor’s call if a story makes it into print. As a result, I review the content after the paper is published.
That approach changed with the basketball story. This was a story we could not get wrong. Reilly contacted me 72 hours before paper was to be published. She was tense and wanted my advice on how to handle the story written by Reporter Kim Gailliard.
We met in my office and reviewed the 26-page NCAA report. We checked each fact. We knew the credibility of The Patriot was about to be tested. We edited the story line by line. The story was solid. Then we discussed the headline.
My concern was the headline would imply NCAA rules were broken at FMU, and that was not the case. I made headline suggestions. This was one of the rare moments at The Patriot that I knew what the headline was going to say prior to publication.
When we were done, I reminded Reilly: “This is your newspaper. I would run with the story, but it’s your call. You must decide where it will appear.” The rest is history. This story would be published. The front page was torn apart and stories were moved to make room for the coach’s story. In the end, the article appeared on the front page with a photo of the coach.
In the same issue, Heather Cosson wrote an opinion piece critical of another student newspaper for its timid editorial approach to news coverage. What she wrote is reprinted below:
In an editorial recently published in the University of South Carolina's (USC) student newspaper, The Daily Gamecock, an unnamed author bashed CNN for coverage of the Ocean Isle fire, claiming the media was insensitive to the tragedy.
"Shame on you CNN…," the editorial stated. "It's different from Sept. 11 when tapes were played live - that was news. When you know what has happened, that your fellow students died, it's just insensitive."
The comment stemmed from an incident late last month in which six USC students and one Clemson University student died in a fire at a North Carolina beach house.
The media then began to do their job - they covered the tragedy.
It's the press' responsibility to inform the public of issues that concern them. When seven students are killed in a fire, the public is concerned and involved. The public deserves to be kept up-to-date concerning what is happening and what new information has been released concerning the tragedy.
It was inconsiderate and disrespectful for the person who wrote the editorial to state that the Ocean Isle fire wasn't as newsworthy as the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
When a person dies, it's news. The public deserves to know what happened, and more importantly, the person who dies deserves to have their story told.
To ignore the deaths of seven students from our community would be insensitive.
Covering the story is not.
If the author of the editorial was upset by the news coverage of the deaths, that person should have turned off the television.
It's your decision whether you watch the news. If it's too much for you to handle, don't watch it. The rest of the nation deserves the opportunity to stay informed about tragedies.
I know I would be enraged if any of my family members or close friends had died in a tragedy such as this and it was not covered on the news.
If the press ignored what had happened, I would be absolutely appalled. When a tragedy occurs, the press should cover the story with accuracy, immediacy and sensitivity, and in the case of the Ocean Isle fire, I think the press did this.
Shame on those who bash the press for covering the tragedy.
Her comments speak for themselves. My view is the same as the FMU student writer. A newspaper’s role is to report the news, not sit on it.
The editorial staff at The Patriot has taken the newspaper to a new level and it was not easy. The hours are long, the budget is small, but despite all the obstacles the students have published a quality newspaper that has caught the attention of the FMU students and administration.
The old Patriot masthead had a saying: “The Spirit of the Students, The Face of FMU.” The nine words are on the masthead of the redesigned Patriot, but this year they are more than words.
David A. Sacash is an assistant professor of mass communication at Francis Marion University and the adviser of the student newspaper.
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College of Liberal Arts
