Montclair newspaper funding restored

An AP story (via Editor & Publisher) from this morning reported: Funding restored to N.J. college paper.

Here’s an except:

Montclair State University’s student government decided Wednesday to temporarily restore funding to the school’s weekly student newspaper, after its decision to freeze the paper’s funding a week ago was criticized as an attempt to stifle freedom of the press.

After more than five hours of deliberation, the Student Government Association legislature voted 12-0, with seven abstentions, to restore funding for printing and office supplies to The Montclarion for 30 days, during which time student government and newspaper leaders are expected to try to resolve their differences.

Here’s a news story from The Montclarion: Montclarion Budget Unfrozen for One Month and here’s my original post on the news: Monclair State newspaper funding cut by SGA.

Wednesday’s career advice from Poynter…and an NPR tidbit

Originally written: Jan. 30 at 10:23 P.M.

As I’ve said before, Poynter Online is a great resource for journalists. I read Joe Grimm’s “Ask the Recruiter” column every weekday and Colleen Eddy‘s “Colleen on Careers” every week.

I found both of today’s editions particularly interesting and relevant to student journalists:

Ask the Recruiter – Starting a Professional Web Site?

Colleen on Careers – Asking For the Moon in Online Job Ads

Also from Poynter, in last night’s the E-Media Tidbits, is a great j-school-related article:

E-Media Tidbits – J-School: The Right Tools Teach the Right Mindset

Weigh in: Do you have a personal or professional Web site?

Update, 11:45 A.M.: I was listening to NPR‘s “Talk of the Nation” podcast when I wrote this first part of this post. A few minutes later there was an interesting conversation about the jobs and the workplace.

Check out the podcast for Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 46:48.

Below is an excellent quote from U.S. News and World Report‘s contributing editor for careers, Marty Nemko. Nemko said the following (at 1:05:58 in the podcast) in response to a caller who said he always asks, “Why should I work for you?” at the end of a job interview:

“A job interview should not be an interrogation, it should be a kind of first date where both of your are trying to check out whether you are right for each other and whether you should go steady. And I think that is very empowering of the worker, and an appropriate empowerment of the worker. Those kinds of questions suffuse through the interview both confidence as well as you’re going to get a better sense of whether you are going to fit.”

Epilogue, Jan. 31 at 2:06 A.M.: Why did it take so long to post this? Well, I couldn’t find out Nemko’s name before I had to go into Wednesday deadline mode. Now that we’ve finished, I just replayed part of the podcast to find out his full name and check it online.

Journalists aren’t just reporters

This is in response to Ducks go quack, quack, cows go moo — SOJo: Student of Online Journalism by Megan Taylor

I agree with Megan, Pat and Chris.

If someone says: “An online journalist or designer (also called a visual journalist) is somehow less of a journalist because…” that is ignorant and demonstrates a lack of understanding about what journalism is. It’s amazing that people–journalists in particular–are still stuck in a very narrow mindset.

Journalism is basically storytelling, and there are many ways to tell a story: in a newspaper, in a magazine, on a Web site, in a book, through video (TV and Web), through audio (radio and Web), etc. and through forms that have not even been invented yet.

It’s difficult to understand a story (written, aural or visual) if it’s not organized well, the same way it’s hard to read a page if it’s not designed well, watch a video if it’s poorly edited or listen to a podcast if the segments aren’t in order.

Different types of journalists tell stories in different kinds of ways. It’s that simple.

Weigh in: What do you think?

Links to other class blogs

Here is a list of links to the other student blogs from my CNJ 442 Online Journalism class:

dontcountyourchickensbeforetheyhatch.blogspot.com
establishthis.blogspot.com


Weigh in: Comment on the blogs to get conversations started.

Update, Jan. 31 at 10:08 P.M.: Per a suggestion by Anna Haynes in a comment, here is a Google Reader public page for the class.

Monclair State newspaper funding cut by SGA

The Student Government Association at Montclair State University in New Jersey has cut the paper’s funding. As a result, they are no longer able to publish:

Montclarion Presses Stopped by Student Government

Here is the paper’s editorial.

The New York Times picked up the story yesterday:

Student Dispute Threatens Montclair State’s Paper

Here are the first three paragraphs of the Times’ article, which give a good overview:

In a rancorous dispute that has pitted student journalists against student government, the editors of Montclair State University’s weekly newspaper were forced to stop publishing last week after the student body president froze the paper’s financing.

The editors of the paper, The Montclarion, claim that the president, Ron Chicken, improperly used his authority, cutting off the newspaper’s funds to silence criticism of the student government.

The student body president, however, told the Montclarion’s editors that they had violated the by-laws of the student government association by hiring their own lawyer.

The Society of Professional Journalists (full disclosure: I’m a member) posted on its site a letter to the Montclarion editor, excerpts of which were just to members sent via e-mail:

Letter of support to Montclarion editors and staff

Weigh in: What are your thoughts on the situation? Has this happened/could this happen at your university?