|
Newspaper
coverage taken for granted
The A.S. Senate failed the students of Cal
State Long Beach on Monday by neglecting
to realize that the Online Forty-Niner newspaper
and Dig magazine are not among the certainties
in life.
While
senators at the emergency Senate meeting
for the Student Right-to-Know referendum
deliberated over how much money should be
given to the campus media, many failed to
realize the service the newspaper performs
for this campus.
Some
senators that voted against the referendum
also oppose the possibility of a recreation
center. Whether for or against the recreation
center, the Senate should realize that if
not for the Online Forty-Niner, 17 articles,
columns and letters about this issue would
not have been printed.
The
same people that attacked the referendum
have written letters to the editor and have
been interviewed for the newspaper.
Nothing
shows people taking the Online Forty-Niner
for granted more than opposing its referendum
and then asking for more coverage. They
do not understand that the newspaper coming
to them with a request to keep it alive
is also the same one they rely on to communicate
with the campus.
People
often take things for granted; even I am
not completely free from that. I do, however,
try to realize how lucky I am.
When
I attended the 2nd East Asia Journalists'
forum in South Korea in November, I had
a chance to talk with college students from
different countries. One overwhelming difference
that I noticed between South Korean and
American college students was that South
Korean students traditionally have their
college paid for by their parents.
The
people I talked with said their parents
pay their tuition, and that this was both
a luxury and a difficulty. Many American
students are forced to work while attending
college because of rising tuition. I used
to see this as a hindrance to our ability
to learn, but I now see it as something
that helps push us through college, mainly
because it forces us to not take our education
for granted.
The
same can be said for our campus media. People
going to school here pass by the news stands
each day and expect the Online Forty-Niner
newspaper to be there, whether they choose
to read it or not. If something happens
on campus that is important to the students,
they expect that the Online Forty-Niner
will cover the event.
But
in reality, the Online Forty-Niner is struggling
through the red ink in our budget to publish
each day. The newspaper has a staff that
can cover important events, but we do not
always have the resources to do so adequately.
Everything
in this newspaper could be better. We could
have more in-depth stories, more photos
in color and we could cover more events.
Hundreds of student events happen every
semester. We cannot cover one-tenth of what
is out there with the funding we have now.
Without the referendum we are faced with
watching what coverage we have disappear
entirely.
If
the Senate and CSULB students want the newspaper
to continue covering news in a professional
fashion, then they should stop taking it
for granted that we will always have the
resources with which to do so.
Sonya
Smith is a senior print journalism major
at CSULB and the editor-in-chief of the
Online Forty-Niner.
|
