By DR. KAYLENE ARMSTRONG
Adviser
From the day I started reporting for my high school newspaper, the Rigby (Idaho) High School Trojaneer, I have always believed student-produced journalism was important.
And even though the entire field of journalism is threatened with extinction these days, more than 50 years later I still believe student journalism is important.
The RUSO Regents also believe this.
The NWOSU Faculty Handbook includes this statement: “The Regional University System of Oklahoma and the regional universities shall protect and respect the right of students to exercise their freedom of expression under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Therefore, university-sponsored student newspapers should include forums for student expression and should publish news of interest and importance to the campus and community of each university.”
After more than 20 years working for daily newspapers, I have been lucky to be the adviser to four fine student newspapers where fledgling journalists have produced excellent journalism. That includes the Northwestern News that you are reading right now.
The editors strive ever week to put out the best possible product. The Oklahoma Press Association agreed with that last year and named the Northwestern News the best college newspaper in the state.
I am well aware that the newspaper isn’t perfect. Through my nine years here, the newspaper has been ridiculed in other classes as “FAKE NEWS” and even used as editing assignments for English classes.
(Maybe whoever found the most typos got a prize!)
Many readers may not know that most of the work that appears on these pages is produced as part of class assignments. Essentially, you are viewing the “homework” of my students every week.
Few students are brave enough to put their homework out there for the entire campus to see — and ridicule — as do my students.
So I’m pretty proud of their gutsy-ness.
Also, the newspaper reporters have tackled some hard issues to talk about, such as mental illness and marijuana use. They have explored questions many have, such as why Alva doesn’t seem to grow and do college students still care about religion.
Sometimes, things get fixed. One year the advanced students wrote about tornadoes and discovered the campus shelter list online was woefully out of date. Campus officials quickly fixed it.
Problems with the crosswalk light east of campus were addressed after a student reporter wrote an in-depth piece that included interviews with students crossing there who were almost hit by vehicles.
Another story about the carillon being silent for several years brought out a donor who paid several thousand dollars to make it work again.
The newspaper’s primary goal is not to create change, however. Mostly, the Northwestern News is about being a voice for students.
Not everyone on staff is a mass communication major, either.
Right now, several of the photography students making photographs for each week’s paper are non-majors. One of our assistant editors is an English major and the editorial editor is majoring in social work.
Whatever the reason these students come to the Northwestern News, they are practicing their right to free speech, so my hat is off to them today for Student Press Freedom Day.
