Cyclic Synchronicity

New words being added to the updated dictionary that could hit bookstores in mid-May include: blog, Botox, digital camera, chad, e-commerce, identity theft, irritable bowel syndrome, Megan's Law, paintball, sheesh, street cred, touch screen, webcast, Wi-Fi and WMD.

9:34:00 AM

The journalism programs at both Ventura and Oxnard colleges have been cancelled for fall 2005. It's all about the budget.

Those two papers will then, essentially, be merged with that of another college, making one newspaper that serves three separate campuses.

9:13:00 AM

Paul Greengrass talks about The Watchmen movie.

(Via Bookslut.)

8:54:00 AM

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Sunshine Week continues all week, and the University of Kentucky has struggled with open records requests.

(Dariush) Shafa, a junior at the University of Kentucky, was assigned to request the Montgomery County Jail's 24-hour jail log, a public record that displays the names of all incarcerated inmates. He spoke with jailer Dewayne Myers and two other jail officials, who refused to produce the documents.

"The jailer and two other gentlemen backed me against the wall and demanded to see my identification when I asked to see the log, and they demanded to know why I had asked for the log," Shafa said. "As David Greer instructed, I avoided their questions and I didn't tell them who I was until I felt it would be better to give them my identification and get out of there."

The experiment:

In each of the 114 counties, auditors requested records from four different venues: a city hall to obtain a city budget; the county courthouse to obtain travel expenses of the county judge executive -- the highest elected office in each Kentucky county; a public school board of education to obtain the contract of the superintendent; and the county jail to obtain a copy of the jail log.

"The result was that we found compliance to the Kentucky open-records law very high at city halls, very high at county courthouses, about 60 percent at school board offices and it was the lowest at county jails," Greer said. "Many of the auditors ran into problems when seeking the jail log. ... Many of the jailers that we encountered were not familiar with public records and many replied to the auditors that that law did not pertain to their office."

9:25:00 PM

Southern University students were surveyed, and the majority wanted their own school magazine.

Students even got to vote in 2002 as to whether they wanted to have the newspaper published in color.

8:56:00 PM

Friday, March 11, 2005

The Associated Press has picked up on the Arizona state legislature threatening prohibition of state funds for student newspapers.

2:28:00 PM

The Chabot College (Hayward, Calif.) Spectator is having financial troubles. The student government pulled its funding and the administration had to include a line-item to cover the paper's $5,000 printing debt.

But this year, the paper has no means of funding. The college appears to be a community college -- the article mentions a study done about funding for student newspapers at community colleges -- and is therefore not able to generate enough revenue to sustain itself. Other monetary avenues need to be explored.

And the newspaper is at the hands of the student government, which the paper covers. The government has slashed the paper's budget from $12,000 to $3,200 in four years.

10:32:00 AM

Thursday, March 10, 2005

The Arizona Daily Wildcat notes that the Arizona state legislature has left no state funding for student newspapers.

Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, said in a meeting Tuesday that this note on the proposed House budget was a result of "sex surveys" and other things in student newspapers, which he said he did not think the state should be funding.

An Arizona State University newspaper had problems with its administration last year.

The State Press faced criticism last semester when it published a nearly full-page photo of a woman's bare breast with a pierced nipple for a feature in its weekly arts section, State Press Magazine.

ASU President Michael Crow threatened to stop funding the newspaper after a major university donor alerted Crow of his disgust with the editorial decision to run the photo, and threatened to stop donating to the university.

Arizona Daily Wildcat Editor in Chief Brett Fera questioned the timing of the proposal.

"It seems coincidental with everything we saw last semester with Crow potentially wanting to censor The State Press," Fera said.

Hopefully the Arizona student newspapers continue with this story.

3:14:00 PM

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

"Demand more from your student newspaper."

No matter how you feel about journalists and their industry, you probably care about the quality of information they put out. While as a reader it may be daunting to try to challenge and change mainstream media, you can potentially make a difference much closer to home.

Student newspapers, especially ones autonomous from their university, student union and any other group, are models of independent and community presses. A typical Canadian student paper receives a secure source of funding from its community - the student body - but its staff retains full editorial control over content.

Sure, student journalists are usually students, not trained professionals. Most may not even aspire to careers in journalism. But many do and will go on to staff newsrooms across the country and around the world. If you want future generations of journalists to be accurate, critical and fair, you can start by demanding the same of your student newspaper and holding its staff accountable when they don't come through.

9:39:00 PM

Monday, March 07, 2005

Packers in for long struggle?

The Green Bay Packers have been suffocated by their own salary cap mismanagement this off-season, losing two starting offensive linemen, potentially a starting safety, and a back-up safety. But what will the offensive line look like next season?

Future O-line?

LT: Chad Clifton
LG: Mike Flanigan
C: Scott Wells
RG: Kevin Barry
RT: Mark Tauscher

Return of Favre?

After losing two starting offensive linemen, you have to wonder whether this means the end for QB Brett Favre. I don't think so. Even with the hemorrhaging of free agents, the Packers are still in the top half of the NFC, which was the worst conference last year.

What does it mean?

Sure, the Packers will have a new-look offensive line next year, but it will not take any steps back from those of previous years. They will still be able to compete, assuming Favre returns, and should challenge for the division title.

9:04:00 AM

Thursday, March 03, 2005

It was only a matter of time: a 24-Hour Painting Marathon.

UPDATE: I love this stuff.

(Via Scott McCloud.)

10:11:00 AM

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

There's lots of happenings for the SUNY New Paltz Oracle. First the paper runs a story about a SUNY New Paltz and New Paltz High School coach who was charged with third-degree rape and endangering the welfare of a child. The story ran on the cover with the headline "Coach Charged With Rape." A track team member allegedly stole 2,500 of the 3,500 Feb. 10 issues in which that story ran.

And the reaction from students? "Most students are too apathetic to even care about the First Amendment," said Daniel Burke, a student and the paper's managing editor. "Most of them don't even practice it."

It used to be that the mass theft of a college newspaper was something seen two or three times a year, said Mike Hiestand, a lawyer and legal consultant with the Student Press Law Center. Now it happens 25 to 30 times a year, he said.

Then the paper's computers go down and are deemed beyond repair, and since the student government wouldn't part with the funds for upgrades, the paper's editor in chief decided to cancel two issues and use the money normally earmarked for printing and other costs for the new equipment.

(Via Romenesko.)

12:30:00 AM

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

RIP, Optimus Prime.

(Neilalien via Polite Dissent.)

12:24:00 PM