North Carolina workshopping, The Daily Tar Heel and the indispensability of college journalism

I’m writing this column from a coffee shop in Columbia, South Carolina. I’m on my way back to Macon from the Local News Researchers Workshop at the University of North Carolina’s Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media; that’s a fancy way of saying a bunch of academics, researchers and journalists got together to share notes and ideas about how to keep local journalism going. 

That’s one of the central missions of The Melody’s parent company, the National Trust for Local News — saving, rebuilding and sustaining local news. I was proud to represent Macon and The Melody at the conference. (A quick aside — that center is housed at UNC’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media, named after Walter E. Hussman Jr., who I used to work for back in Arkansas. Small world).

I was part of a panel discussion regarding news ecosystems. As one of a handful of working journalists in the room, the researchers were interested in my thoughts on how local newsrooms could utilize the work they do. It was a rewarding discussion, and I left encouraged by the fact that so many smart, well-intentioned folks are working on news sustainability (even if the UNC and Duke faculty did throw some friendly March Madness barbs at each other). 

I also made some new friends with the Verified News Network in Oklahoma, a Native-owned media company based on the Muscogee (Creek) Reservation that is doing some great work (and I got to brag about our new downtown street signs).

*****

While I was in Chapel Hill, I picked up a print copy of The Daily Tar Heel, the UNC student newspaper. It’s impressive! I loved to see a huge list of editors and writers working together to produce the paper. The March 19 issue was their food issue, and the staff did a great job exploring the theme. I particularly enjoyed the editorial on “struggle meals” for college students, like instant ramen, SpongeBob SquarePants mac ‘n’ cheese and Pop-Tarts. It seems like college hasn’t changed that much since I graduated.

The Daily Tar Heel has a lot of strong news copy, too — localized national stories, campus news, sports and more. It does my old campus editor heart good to see student journalism thriving. 

I’ve always considered “student journalist” to contain an unnecessary qualifier. These college reporters are journalists, plain and simple. When I worked for the East Texan, the student newspaper at East Texas A&M, we routinely beat the local hedge-fund owned newspaper on local news and sports. 

We worked hard between classes, going to city meetings, attending sporting events, covering breaking news, writing features, laying out the newspaper, updating the website. We were working journalists, even if we were paid next to nothing. 

When I taught at the University of Oklahoma, I was privileged to get to know some of the talented staffers of the OU Daily, an independent student newspaper. Adviser Seth Prince is one of the true all-stars of collegiate journalism — thanks to his steady hand, calm demeanor and quiet yet firm direction, the OU Daily continues to produce high quality journalism that is routinely recognized by national organizations for its excellent work.

Here in Macon, I’ve taught practicum courses for Mercer’s Reg Murphy Center for Collaborative Journalism and supported the work of students writing for the Mercer Cluster. The Melody’s Micah Johnston and Mary Helene Hall are practicum and Cluster alumni.

Across the country, as hedge funds bleed newspapers dry and the economics of journalism continue to get more challenging, college news organizations have become increasingly vital to their communities, on and off campus. And even though many of these students don’t enter the professional journalism world, their experience defending the Fourth Estate is a valuable perspective on the impact and necessity of local news.