Comments come nationwide on 49er online-only possibility
Many disagree with online-only newspaper; dean wants online website expansion.
Lauren Williams
Issue date: 9/18/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
The former editor in chief of the Campus Lantern, James Gibson, decided to do something drastic with his school's campus newspaper in September 2006.
As described in a webcast by current Editor in Chief Tori Saulnier, "We basically decided we're getting rid of the print completely and going straight to online."
In the words of Saulnier, though, the student body at Eastern Connecticut State University "wasn't fully prepared."
"People said,'We want to be able to hold something when we go to class and to be able to read a paper when we're in class,'" Saulnier said.
Students, alumni and faculty at Cal State Long Beach and media professionals within the collegiate news world have had similar reactions to the possibility of the Daily Forty-Niner going predominantly online.
"While I think online and multimedia skills are essential to students who seek to be future journalists, I think it would be a disservice to the student population," said former Daily Forty-Niner Managing Editor Katie Plourd, who is currently attending Boston University for her journalism master's degree.
"Many students pick up copies of the Forty-Niner while they are on campus, in between classes and such. Without that print version available, I think that students wouldn't go towards the Web. It's different than subscription newspapers, where readers tend to go online to get the news to avoid the cost of buying a copy."
In an interview Monday, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts Gerry Riposa, who has proposed the online-only Daily Forty-Niner feasibility study, explained his reasoning for it, saying that he wants to prepare students for the future of journalism.
"We want you to be so Web savvy because that's where the jobs are," Riposa said. "The whole thing that is so bothersome is this whole dichotomy of, 'If you're not with the paper, you want to kill the paper.'"
Riposa went on to elaborate on his vision for the Daily Forty-Niner.
"I still get the L.A. Times [print edition] at home," Riposa said. "I think that what has to happen here is a little bit of realism. The online system we have now is OK. I mean, I want to see an online version with audio feeds, video feeds.
"I'm not talking about Gerry Riposa doing all this. Journalism students and journalism faculty are going to be the leaders of this thing. First of all, there's no way we could have a paper produced if the students didn't want to have anything to do with it - or the faculty. We've got to have a learning opportunity where people are really excited about producing this entity."
Others believe that discontinuing the print edition of a newspaper would be beneficial for reasons other than those related to technology and access to information.
Paul J. Beique, the faculty adviser for The Defender at Saint Michael's College in Vermont said, "The environmental club have suggested that The Defender ... publish online only. Their motivation is reducing waste."
Beique did recognize some drawbacks, however.
"Much of the world still relies on printed material, and knowing how to put a print publication together is still a very marketable skill," Beique said. "Our students can choose to work on the newspaper or on an online magazine. Many of my students say they prefer the paper because they like being able to hold up a portable, finished product."
Bill Casey, the publisher for the Daily Iowan at the University of Iowa, strongly disagreed with the idea of putting the Daily Forty-Niner online only.
In a phone interview, he said that the faculty newsletter at the University of Iowa went online only and when it did, the readers didn't go with it.
"Eighty percent read it before, now five percent. ... It takes eight online ads to make up for one newspaper [print] ad," Casey said. "There is no benefit to going online only. There needs to be a combination. ... A good newspaper is a newspaper, plus online."
There is a general consensus among faculty and media experts regarding the importance of creating a stronger presence online.
Trevor Brown, one the members of the pre-accreditation team who examined the Cal State Long Beach Journalism Department in spring 2006 and is from Indiana University, said, "I'd replace the daily print version with an online version that provides breaking news, information and comment, including video and sound, in as up-to-the-minute fashion as is responsible."
He also recognized the limitations of this at a university newspaper.
"I would balance timeliness and students' need of time to study and complete their degrees," Brown said. "A 24/7 medium may not be appropriate or realistic. Updating may be frequent rather than constant."
Some students at CSULB had similar reactions to the possibility of a predominately online campus newspaper.
"I pick [the newspaper] up if I see something interesting," said Wilmer Salvador, a sophomore psychology major, adding that he didn't think people would go online to read it. "Going online just to read an article - you have to go online, type it in. It's a lot of work."
Jenny Stockdale contributed to this report.
The push to go online only is not the first problem the Daily Forty-Niner has encountered. In 1997, the journalism department lost its accreditation, and the Daily Forty-Niner received no money from student funds.
Feb. 27, 1997 -- The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism recommended that Cal State Long Beach's journalism department should not be renewed for accreditation.
March 6, 1997 -- While the Instructionally Related Activities board allocated $743,280 of the $1.4 million in student funds to sports and recreation, the Daily Forty-Niner and the University Magazine received nothing.
March 13, 1997 -- Robert C. Maxson, president of CSULB, reassured the journalism department at a meeting that it was never his intention to upset the process of funding decisions. He said, "[The"Daily Forty-Niner] is important to campus because it is the only daily source of news about the university. We must look for ways to fund it so that it is consistently stable."
May 6, 1997 -- After an initial review and two appeals, the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication announced that the journalism department was no longer accredited and could not reapply for another two years.
As described in a webcast by current Editor in Chief Tori Saulnier, "We basically decided we're getting rid of the print completely and going straight to online."
In the words of Saulnier, though, the student body at Eastern Connecticut State University "wasn't fully prepared."
"People said,'We want to be able to hold something when we go to class and to be able to read a paper when we're in class,'" Saulnier said.
Students, alumni and faculty at Cal State Long Beach and media professionals within the collegiate news world have had similar reactions to the possibility of the Daily Forty-Niner going predominantly online.
"While I think online and multimedia skills are essential to students who seek to be future journalists, I think it would be a disservice to the student population," said former Daily Forty-Niner Managing Editor Katie Plourd, who is currently attending Boston University for her journalism master's degree.
"Many students pick up copies of the Forty-Niner while they are on campus, in between classes and such. Without that print version available, I think that students wouldn't go towards the Web. It's different than subscription newspapers, where readers tend to go online to get the news to avoid the cost of buying a copy."
In an interview Monday, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts Gerry Riposa, who has proposed the online-only Daily Forty-Niner feasibility study, explained his reasoning for it, saying that he wants to prepare students for the future of journalism.
"We want you to be so Web savvy because that's where the jobs are," Riposa said. "The whole thing that is so bothersome is this whole dichotomy of, 'If you're not with the paper, you want to kill the paper.'"
Riposa went on to elaborate on his vision for the Daily Forty-Niner.
"I still get the L.A. Times [print edition] at home," Riposa said. "I think that what has to happen here is a little bit of realism. The online system we have now is OK. I mean, I want to see an online version with audio feeds, video feeds.
"I'm not talking about Gerry Riposa doing all this. Journalism students and journalism faculty are going to be the leaders of this thing. First of all, there's no way we could have a paper produced if the students didn't want to have anything to do with it - or the faculty. We've got to have a learning opportunity where people are really excited about producing this entity."
Others believe that discontinuing the print edition of a newspaper would be beneficial for reasons other than those related to technology and access to information.
Paul J. Beique, the faculty adviser for The Defender at Saint Michael's College in Vermont said, "The environmental club have suggested that The Defender ... publish online only. Their motivation is reducing waste."
Beique did recognize some drawbacks, however.
"Much of the world still relies on printed material, and knowing how to put a print publication together is still a very marketable skill," Beique said. "Our students can choose to work on the newspaper or on an online magazine. Many of my students say they prefer the paper because they like being able to hold up a portable, finished product."
Bill Casey, the publisher for the Daily Iowan at the University of Iowa, strongly disagreed with the idea of putting the Daily Forty-Niner online only.
In a phone interview, he said that the faculty newsletter at the University of Iowa went online only and when it did, the readers didn't go with it.
"Eighty percent read it before, now five percent. ... It takes eight online ads to make up for one newspaper [print] ad," Casey said. "There is no benefit to going online only. There needs to be a combination. ... A good newspaper is a newspaper, plus online."
There is a general consensus among faculty and media experts regarding the importance of creating a stronger presence online.
Trevor Brown, one the members of the pre-accreditation team who examined the Cal State Long Beach Journalism Department in spring 2006 and is from Indiana University, said, "I'd replace the daily print version with an online version that provides breaking news, information and comment, including video and sound, in as up-to-the-minute fashion as is responsible."
He also recognized the limitations of this at a university newspaper.
"I would balance timeliness and students' need of time to study and complete their degrees," Brown said. "A 24/7 medium may not be appropriate or realistic. Updating may be frequent rather than constant."
Some students at CSULB had similar reactions to the possibility of a predominately online campus newspaper.
"I pick [the newspaper] up if I see something interesting," said Wilmer Salvador, a sophomore psychology major, adding that he didn't think people would go online to read it. "Going online just to read an article - you have to go online, type it in. It's a lot of work."
Jenny Stockdale contributed to this report.
Bumps along the road
The push to go online only is not the first problem the Daily Forty-Niner has encountered. In 1997, the journalism department lost its accreditation, and the Daily Forty-Niner received no money from student funds.
Feb. 27, 1997 -- The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism recommended that Cal State Long Beach's journalism department should not be renewed for accreditation.
March 6, 1997 -- While the Instructionally Related Activities board allocated $743,280 of the $1.4 million in student funds to sports and recreation, the Daily Forty-Niner and the University Magazine received nothing.
March 13, 1997 -- Robert C. Maxson, president of CSULB, reassured the journalism department at a meeting that it was never his intention to upset the process of funding decisions. He said, "[The"Daily Forty-Niner] is important to campus because it is the only daily source of news about the university. We must look for ways to fund it so that it is consistently stable."
May 6, 1997 -- After an initial review and two appeals, the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication announced that the journalism department was no longer accredited and could not reapply for another two years.