COLUMN: In Defense Of The Daily Universe
No one reads newspapers anymore. Well, almost no one. (As you can see, this publication itself is distributed electronically.) But BYU students still read the Daily Universe — and in large numbers. Sure, the paper is a frequent target of student criticism and derision (the majority of it unfair), but those critics still pick up a copy on their way to class every morning.
As members of the very small Provo publishing community and huge supporters of the work done by the DU staff, we have invited the paper’s incoming news editor (and friend of Rhombus), McKay Coppins, to say a few words in defense of his publication and solicit your thoughts and recommendations. Please take the time to read his piece and share your thoughts. A vibrant daily newspaper is essential to the BYU and Provo student communities; Your ideas can only help improve it. As always, thanks for reading. — Steve Pierce, Editor
The Daily Universe
As incoming news editor for the Daily Universe, I am all too familiar with the hazards of putting out a daily publication. And if you’re a frequent reader of BYU’s campus newspaper, you’re probably familiar with them yourself.
Henry Grunwald, former editor of Time, described these perils when he said, “Journalism can never be silent: that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air.”
Indeed, putting together a daily newspaper, or “speaking immediately,” can be a difficult feat, especially when it is staffed entirely by part-time employees and students obligated to write for a three-credit communications class.
But of course, you already know that.
Over the years, the Daily Universe has been a frequent target for student criticism, and I’ll be the first to admit that much of it is deserved. We’ve put some pretty irrelevant stories on the front page, we’ve printed some not-very-good writing and we’ve fallen victim to (or perhaps victimized our readership with) some very embarrassing typos.
Some of this is just inevitable in a newspaper like ours. As I alluded to earlier, the Daily Universe is a “lab publication,” which means that most of the content is generated by students in Communications 321. The 321-ers, as we affectionately call them, are required to write an average of 2-3 stories a week, in addition to reading, homework and other quizzes. It is, perhaps, the most work-intensive three-credit class at BYU.
Most of the students have never written anything that has been published and since about half of them are public relations majors, they are not all necessarily writers by nature. The editors, part-time student employees who have more experience, do their best to make the articles readable and interesting, but it doesn’t always happen.
So, I freely confess that the Daily Universe is a flawed publication. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t be pretty good. In fact, the DU has, at times, participated in some important, engaging and even outstanding student journalism.
For example, our coverage of Provo City Council’s controversial parking proposal this summer played a crucial role in encouraging students to participate in local government. There are currently three BYU students on the ballot for the upcoming elections and the parking policy, which unfairly targeted the student population, was delayed indefinitely.
The purpose of this article is not to make excuses for the Daily Universe, nor is it to officially declare our intention to rest on our laurels. On the contrary, we have spent much of the summer working on a major revamp of the paper, and beginning next week, you’ll start to see the changes.
Our multimedia editors, for example, have given a facelift to the paper’s Web site and even changed its name. The former NewsNet site is no more, replaced by the much more interactive, aesthetically pleasing and functional universe.byu.edu. There you will find podcasts with interviews of local musicians, entertaining blogs, photo galleries and other online-only features.
Another major change will be the Friday edition of the paper. Rather than our typical newspaper, we will publish The Friday 411, a Daily Universe tabloid focused on sports and entertainment. It is intended to be your weekend guide to the Provo/Orem area, and we think you’ll enjoy it.
Speaking on behalf of the entire Daily Universe staff, I can say that we are more committed than ever before to improving your campus newspaper. We believe it is important that the BYU community have a strong voice and a reliable news source, and we will do all within our power to give you one.
To do that, though, we need to know what you want from the Daily Universe. Post your suggestions here, or email them to me, and we’ll do our best to implement them.
McKay Coppins is the incoming news editor at the Daily Universe. He also writes a weekly online column for Mormon Times. You can reach McKay at mckaycoppins@yahoo.com.
I will be the first to admit that the Daily Universe comes under a lot of inappropriate scrutiny. We as a student body should really have more realistic expectations for our humble, under-funded student newspaper which is really mostly comprised of a communications class’s assignments. It’s remarkable that it’s as good as it is.
That is to say, the DU is at least pretty well put-together and reasonably well-edited, “Quorum of the Twelve Apostates” aside.
The largest beef many of my (more liberal) fellow students and I have is that the paper seems to be hopelessly un-independent. It feels more like the propagandistic mouthpiece of BYU bigwigs than a credible source of news. Its writers eschew informative journalism (the kind that helps us make our own opinion) and instead opt to transmit the message their higher-ups give them.
I don’t know how much power C.B. Samuelson and Company exercise over the paper, but judging by the homogeneity of what I read in it, it has to be a ridiculous amount.
Thanks for your imput Neil. I considered putting this in the article, and I probably should have. The truth is, BYU’s administration has absolutely no involvement in the day-to-day operation and publication of the paper. They don’t see the proofs before they go to print, they don’t know what articles we are working on, and they have rarely, as far as I know, told us NOT to print something.
I hear your complaint quite often, and to some extent, I can see where it comes from. We do tend to print quite a few “puff pieces.” However, I think that is more a function of many of our reporters’ inability to dig deep into a story. Still, though, I think we do our fair share of articles criticizing the way things work at BYU, and heaven knows we print quite a few critical letters.
We are, of course, an LDS university, so you won’t see any inappropriate or morally objectionable material in the pages of the DU, but I have a hard time finding the pro-BYU bias. Could you give me a few examples? I don’t doubt that it’s there, and one of my main goals as news editor will be to raise issues that the DU has yet to address.
This may be a far cry from a good suggestion but i was thinking on at least one idea. There seems to be a lot of people that know the ins-and-outs of how to succeed at BYU or little things that help make life easier (i.e. how and where to study, techniques for succeeding in class,Focus points for more scholastic success). I just think that there are a lot of students that perhaps aren’t very keen on how to get ahead in class. That would make the paper a resource for tips and things that would help make life easier. Perhaps after a brief establishment period it could become a “dear Abbey” column where people write in (i dunno… i’m just throwing ideas out). It could even take a more satirical spin to debunk and poke fun at pop byu culture…
Either way… I like what I’ve read so far. Keep it up McKay!
As a former 321-er, I agree that the DU is darn good when you consider that students only get three credits for what amounts to at least a part-time job, and when you consider the other factors McKay lists. Here are just two suggestions I have:
-Make 321 worth more credits. Even one more credit will help. Expecting us to act like professional journalists when we have the obligation of taking other full-time classes is bound to lead to less-than-stellar reporting.
-Drop the editorial-only track and teach all students multimedia and layout skills. If students are here just to write, they should be in the English major. As a journalist today, multimedia skills = employability.
-I like Jess’s comment about a column. I think it’s a great idea. We do a lot of features for freshmen the first week or so, but the whole year is new to them, and many students, I’m sure, would enjoy an advice column.