This week, our feature article is Carla Knipe’s report on her recent attendance at a Canadian University Press round-table discussion. It might seem like a little bit of “inside baseball” to many, but I think the article touches on several things directly relevant to Athabasca University students.
Specifically, it touches on the worth of a campus media even when there is no campus. As other universities embrace distance education, other campus papers are having to deal with the additional competition of the internet, but also with the changing interests of those they serve. Few students at AU, for instance, have any interest in the transit options in the town of Athabasca. Yet for campus based universities, a story about transit difficulties was sure to create interest in the community. As the number of students who do not set foot on campus increases, is there a role for student journalism? I like to think that, at the Voice, we’ve shown that there is. Although it may not be what many people consider a traditional role.
While we do have some reporting on events, most of our reporting is far more based on the experiential. We talk about what students can do and experience, rather than what is going on, largely because what’s going on in a small town in Ontario is simply not going to be of much interest to the city dweller living in Vancouver.
Whether that’s what happens when you try to board a plane, as Barb L. examines this week, or ways to deal with feeling burnt out, something that Deanna Roney is taking another look at, we try to concentrate on things that are likely to matter to you. Which brings me to my appeal. What does matter to you? Let me know by picking something you think should be in the Best of the Voice, or simply feel free to write me at karl@voicemagazine.org with your ideas.
And until then? Enjoy the read!
P.S. If you didn’t already know, The Voice Magazine has a Facebook page and a twitter feed if You’re into that kind of thing!
