I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome students back to campus by introducing the new and improved student-run Scout.
During my three years at Bradley, I’ve seen students pick up a copy of this newspaper for a few simple reasons. Sometimes they need a crossword puzzle to get them through class. Sometimes they go straight to the police reports. And other times, when it’s raining, the newspaper doubles as a handy portable umbrella.
It upset me that many students didn’t read The Scout for the articles, and even more that some students didn’t pick up a copy at all. But in the end, I understand where some of this disconnect came into play.
For one, the rise of the Internet was a huge factor. Information can be found online quickly, making it harder for us to catch readers on Friday for news that happened earlier in the week.
And some of the stories we did cover weren’t the most appealing. Some were bland articles on past events; others seemed forced into the paper despite low student interest.
These arguments make sense for the failing connection between us and students, trust me, I know it. But I’m not going to let that cast the student newspaper by the wayside. In fact, I’m going to try to do the opposite.
What a lot of students don’t realize is that The Scout is entirely student-run. We as students do a lot, from writing stories, taking photos, placing advertisements, managing the business aspects and more – nearly everything except printing the papers themselves. We do, however, get up at 6 a.m. on a Friday and deliver them around campus.
And the main thing, really, is that we get it. We’re all students. We experience the same ups and downs, stresses and successes, late nights and early mornings as you do.
That’s our advantage. We have something the Internet doesn’t. We’re able to speak to you directly and find out what you want to know. We can focus on issues that are affecting you every day. We’ll write stories you actually want to read.
While The Scout will still be a traditional newspaper this year, our team is adding some modern twists as well. Look out for features, photos, graphics, polls and data intended to capture the attention of the student of 2013.
The Scout is one of Bradley’s longest-running student organizations, more than 100 years old. And we’re ready to step up to that legacy. The fact that we will relate to and interact with other students as equals means that this year our paper will stay student-oriented, bringing to light your concerns and experiences.
And we plan to represent the student body in every way we can.
This is our student newspaper, all 5,700 of us. Together, let’s publish something for everyone.
