Author: Editor

There’s an interesting story coming out of the Wisconsin recall election. The latest polls show Wisconsin governor, Scott Walker, in a virtual dead heat with Tom Barrett, his most likely opponent. This comes despite a huge advantage in advertising spending by Walker.

Should a student newspaper run the name of a female rape victim if she spoke in a public forum on the topic and gave those at the forum her name?

This is an appropriate question to ask in a journalism ethics class when discussing what should and should not be covered and how to go about covering it. But the question becomes more intriguing when following the reaction to the story that was run in a college newspaper.

The USA Today ran a piece about the plight of many college newspapers and their uncertain future. Gateway Journalism Review’s next issue devotes a portion of its magazine to this issue. What problems do college newspapers face and what are they doing to alleviate those problems.

This issue affects more than just college campuses. College newspapers are breeding grounds for tomorrow’s journalists. Tomorrow’s professionals are today’s students. Perhaps the answers to today’s problems in the professional newsroom will be answered by the innovations needed in college newsrooms. Or maybe college newspapers will continue to try the methods professional newsrooms are using. Maybe students can make them work.

Every March the argument starts all over again. Media pundits, columnists, analysts, college basketball fans, coaches and just those people……

A controversy is brewing at DePauw University.

On Feb. 29, the DePauw, the college’s student newspaper, ran a story about visiting assistant professor Mark Tatge. During his investigating reporting class, Tatge tried teaching his students about public records. He pulled out a 17-page packet that he handed out to his students, detailing the arrest of sophomore Alison Stephens for four misdemeanors involving under-aged drinking. (DePauw story here)

The packet was full of public documents, including her Facebook and Twitter profiles, the police report and court proceedings. After Stephens found out about the class, she told her parents and her parents complained to the school.