There is no room for money in student journalism. Student papers should not have paid staff, and they certainly should not have highly paid advisers. A payroll is the Daily Emerald’s greatest fault, and it hurts not just journalism students but the entire University community.
Working for the Daily Cardinal student newspaper at the University of Wisconsin was easily one of the greatest experiences of my life. I wrote my first news article on the first day of my freshman year, and I continued to work for the paper until I graduated. I was never paid a cent. During my years at the Cardinal, I wrote news articles, editorials, a weekly column and even drew a weekly editorial cartoon. There were virtually no restrictions on what I or anyone could do.
There was no “adult supervision,” and nothing was motivated by money. I volunteered at least 20 hours a week my junior and senior year at that paper because I loved what I was doing. I had friends who put in upwards of 50 hours a week unpaid, while other students passed through the office writing maybe just one or two stories. Anyone in the university could work for the paper, and the experience could be whatever that person wanted it to be.
I worked in journalism for five years after graduation. When I arrived at the University of Oregon for law school, I was excited to see what the student paper here was like. My first impression was that it’s not a bad paper, but I could tell people were getting paid. I could tell creativity was limited, and the paper was more than a little boring. The Emerald is always eight pages, but I know there is money and content enough to make 24 each day. The Emerald doesn’t have student cartoons, and it hardly has any space for student letters. This paper does not belong to the students of the University; it belongs to the few lucky students who work for it.
I haven’t followed too closely what has happened at the Emerald this last week, but I think this is a good time for the Emerald to assess what it does and what it wants to do. I hope it keeps in mind the best interests of the student body. I think the staff also needs to assess what it’s missing out on by picking money over creativity.
Andrew Miller
University Law Student
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