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More HBCU Newspapers Increase Frequency

James Miccolo Johnson/NABJ Ruth Tisdale, who led the Hilltop at Howard University as it went to daily publication, was presented the Student Journalist of the Year award by Mashaun D. Simon at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in August.

By Darren Sands
Black College Wire

The Student Voice at Albany State University -– previously published every two weeks -- began circulating every week this semester. Tennessee State University's the Meter is producing a Thursday online edition. Florida A&M University's the Famuan and the News Argus of Winston-Salem State University also plan to increase their publication frequency.

For these papers at historically black colleges and universities, the benefits of increased publication, in print and online, are clear.

In most cases, it means more advertising revenue and increased relevancy on campus. Putting out a higher volume of stories makes the student journalists more attractive candidates for summer internships at daily newspapers.

A study of college students released over the summer by College Publisher, a company that helps campus papers publish online, said, "Student newspapers are recognized as the most influential and widely read media channel on campus, and more than 500 student newspapers are currently publishing online editions."

It added, "For the second straight year, an overwhelming number of respondents believe that their newspaper's online edition is an important part of their newsroom's ability to reach its readers."

Ashley Hindsman, editor-in-chief of the Student Voice, said of her paper's increased publication: "This will put us in the ranking with a lot of other school papers. I know we are ready and our staff is growing."

Tennessee State's the Meter began producing a print edition on Mondays and a Thursday online edition. It is publishing twice a week for the first time in its history. Its Web site -- judged best online newspaper at the 2006 HBCU National Newspaper Conference and Job Fair in February -- boasts an easy-to-navigate design, multimedia presentations and PDF files of its news pages. Top editor Eddie Cole Jr. cites nytimes.com and usatoday.com as examples of excellence in online journalism.

"In order to be the best you have to imitate the best. For us to just sit here and to just throw" news stories "on the Web site, that's defeating the purpose," he said.

The Hilltop of Howard University -– a pacesetter among newspapers at HBCUs -- saw a smooth leadership transition from Ruth Tisdale, outgoing editor and Student Journalist of the Year of the National Association of Black Journalists, to Howard senior Ayesha Rascoe. Under Tisdale's guidance, the paper became the only daily at an HBCU.

Photo credit: Mike McCray/A&T Register Legendary journalist Chuck Stone, left, was one of those who inspired Eddie R. Cole Jr., editor of the Meter at Tennessee State University, at the HBCU National Newspaper Conference and Job Fair in February.

Rascoe said part of her legacy will be to ensure that the Hilltop remains a daily.

"I think that with any newspaper that you have to grow and get better, you don't want to stay stagnant and stay in one place. We've worked to improve the editing, reporting, writing, the photos; it's like an assembly line. Just making sure that each part runs smoothly, and making sure stories get in on time, and that we get it to the printer on time."

Rascoe said that she hopes her legacy will be that she and her staff "put out the best paper that we possibly could.

"Then I just want to make sure that it remains daily. I want us to lay a foundation that says that we are a daily, and that we're going to stay a daily."

Sidney Wright IV, editor of the Famuan, announced plans to include news updates and national and international news around the clock on thefamuanonline.com.

"We chose to include the 24-hour news section because we felt that as a newspaper we had the responsibility to keep our readers informed 24 hours a day," Wright said in an interview.

The changes in format have come at a pivotal time for the Famuan. The paper received both acclaim and criticism from members of the student body for closely following two controversies on campus, one involving Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and the other, the "Marching 100" marching band.

The Famuan reported that the band stole items from a Detroit hotel during a road trip to play Delaware State University on Sept. 2. Then on Sept. 11, the paper reported that dozens of band members were academically ineligible. It also aggressively reported hazing charges against five members of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. The trial was to begin Sept. 25, and Wright said the paper would continue to pursue that story.

Although several papers have increased their publication frequency, the online editions of others have yet to be published or even updated this semester.

They include the Lincoln (Mo.) Clarion, the Dillard Courtbouillon, Central State's the Gold Torch, the News Argus of Winston-Salem State, Clark Atlanta's the Panther and the Hampton Script.

The Script Web site still has its provocative story about health-code violations, from April 2004, as its centerpiece. In the story, the Script revealed that the school had 261 health-code violations in its cafeteria since 2001. When the Script refused to run a letter of response by Acting President JoAnn Haysbert on the front page, administrators responded by confiscating thousands of copies of the newspaper.

Marvin Anderson, editor of the Script, said that while the paper plans to begin publishing weekly, in order to get the online edition up and running, "there are still some things we have to go through.

"After Howard went daily, that was really a wake-up call that we really need to push harder. I know that we can do that, and we can do it better. We have the resources because there are so many talented people on this campus," he said.

Anderson said the Script had a Webmaster and was working to get an online edition up and running. "I would love to see something online before the end of the semester. I seriously just don't know," he said.

Brian Blount, head of the Mass Communications department at Winston-Salem State, said he would facilitate an increase in the publication frequency of the News Argus from once a month to every two weeks. The department is seeking accreditation from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. Increasing the publication frequency, he said, is a key part of the process.

The accrediting council "wanted to make certain that the students are gaining valuable experience meeting deadline and being able to write stories and publish them in a timely manner," Blount said.

Expecting things to be in order for the council's visiting team in the fall of 2007, Blount said the effort to get accreditation requires that students engage in and become familiar with the latest multimedia technology driving the evolution of online journalism.

"Overall, everyone is pretty excited and students have been pretty accommodating to make sure these things happen," he said.

Last February's HBCU Newspaper Conference at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro revealed a number of commonalities among the publications. Staffers spoke of struggling to produce quality journalism while saddled with staffers who were not as dedicated as they were, and of a lack of both finances and administrative support concerning press freedoms.

Cole said that while he already planned to increase publication of the Meter, the conference reinforced his plans and gave him the opportunity to consult with a number of experts. "It came down to us wanting to improve service to our community." Cole said.

Darren Sands is a student at Emerson College in Boston and student representative for Region I of the National Association of Black Journalists.

Posted Sept. 25, 2006