http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/7210189/

Quote :

"North Carolina State University’s 90-year-old campus newspaper could shut down because of a lack of student involvement. "

paging marko

This kinda sad to see. I know a lot of people say the paper sucks, but this is kinda why it does, no one wants to write for it.

3/10/2010 11:06:18 PM

just cut back the amount of papers people readd it just to laugh at it

3/10/2010 11:08:06 PM

They should switch to online only.

3/10/2010 11:08:36 PM

It's a liberal paper on a conservative campus. Failure was destined.

3/10/2010 11:08:46 PM

AND DECREASE THE SURPLUS POPULATION

3/10/2010 11:09:36 PM

^ Nice.

3/10/2010 11:10:44 PM

http://www.technicianonline.com/viewpoint/join-the-team-before-it-s-too-late-1.2186559

Quote :

"Join the team, before it’s too late By Technician's Editorial Board | Published: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 Updated: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 The Facts: Technician is looking down the business end of the barrel and is in serious need of student involvement. After losing its editor in a policy row at the beginning of the semester, the newspaper needs leaders. Our Opinion: The paper needs your help, regardless of age or experience. Without student support, the paper could cease publication at the end of the semester. The Student Media Board of Directors elected six new student leaders Tuesday to direct news organizations on campus next year. WKNC, Agromeck, Windhover, Wolf TV, the Nubian Message and Student Media’s business office will receive new, dynamic visionaries who will enable the free flow of information on campus in the next year and lead those organizations into a bright future. Technician was not as lucky. The University’s 90-year-old student newspaper did not hire an editor in chief and could shut its doors in a few weeks without students’ help. After losing its editor earlier this semester in a policy dispute, the institution has been essentially leaderless. Today’s paper was only in the stand because of what the staff would describe as a printing miracle. The state of the media is bleak. Students should not be so disillusioned as to think that the News & Observer and Technician will print in their traditional forms in 20 — or even 10 — years from now. Nonetheless, their mission is important. If you value keeping a system of checks and balances on Student Government and the University, the newspaper is one of students’ only allies. Even if you just want to read the recap of the weekend games or do the daily Sudoku, it won’t be here unless students get involved. This isn’t a cry of desperation or a pity plea. A student newspaper’s mission is to work behind the scenes and provide a service to students. But Technician won’t be able to continue that work without an infusion of people who care about their University and want students to be informed. As students’ sounding board and principle campus-media outlet, the paper is a valuable resource for students. Its value is in its people, though; without vibrant leaders for the future, the newspaper will cease publication. If you enjoy complaining about your campus newspaper and wish it ill, that wish may come true in a few short weeks — honestly, it may already be too late. But if you see some value in student journalism and believe students should have a voice and advocate on campus, contact the staff about helping — even if it’s just a comment or suggestion. Regardless of year, major or experience, Technician has a place for you. A student newspaper is only as good as the community makes it; without student involvement, reader or otherwise, Technician’s days may be running short. "

3/10/2010 11:47:45 PM

NO!

3/10/2010 11:50:04 PM

I would have killed for the opportunity to work for the Technician in Undergrad.


Let's hope there are a few out there now that feel the same way.

3/10/2010 11:50:26 PM

Quote :

"This isn’t a cry of desperation "

hmmm

3/10/2010 11:50:58 PM

^^

Also, ^

3/10/2010 11:51:03 PM

thats pretty shitty, I'd jump on that if i were an undergrad at state still, all the new guys have the power to kind of guide the newspaper in the way they see fit now

3/10/2010 11:53:25 PM

I would have been interested in doing basic editing/proofreading/corrections/whatnot a couple of years ago, but I was a part-time grad student at the time and evidently you weren't eligible to work for Technician if you were not a full-time student. I wonder if that's still in effect, struck me as rather exclusionary.

Still though, I'd be sad to see it go. It's not much but it's ours, and I just can't imagine campus without freshly stacked newspaper bins on the way to class in the morning. I guess I'm an old fogey though.

3/10/2010 11:54:50 PM

They just need a Tdub section where they reprint threads in full. The NSFW threads would vastly improve interest in the paper

3/10/2010 11:57:24 PM

I thought if you were paying student fees, you couldn't be denied access to any State activities.

3/10/2010 11:57:36 PM

Quote :

"would have killed for the opportunity to work for the Technician in Undergrad. Let's hope there are a few out there now that feel the same way."

3/11/2010 12:06:08 AM

this is really a shame

say what you will (and what I have) about it, Technician was my artistic home for 3 years

but I don't believe it'll die...there are plenty of good writers on campus, and I'm sure talented people will jump at the chance to contribute to, and perhaps remake, a paper that's been around for damn near a century

3/11/2010 12:06:51 AM

students don't know the perks of writing for the sports section, thats for sure...

3/11/2010 12:09:34 AM

Eh, I might contact them I guess. I'm an undergrad who does a lot of writing, and I've considered writing for them before, but it's very... well, demeaning honestly. The quality of their writers is just so low that it doesn't really seem worth my time, especially since I don't want to get caught up in some kind of obligation to the paper.

I guess I'd rather them stick around then fade away.

EDIT: The Editor-in-Chief quit over "editorial differences"? That's some bullshit cover for a petty argument that soured, it has nothing to do with the service they provide.

Quote :

"It's a liberal paper on a conservative campus. Failure was destined."

Holy shit wwwebsurfer, you think that paper is liberal? Their viewpoint staff is like 75% fundamentalist Christians. Or, all of them I've met... granted that was last year.



[Edited on March 11, 2010 at 12:48 AM. Reason : ^]

3/11/2010 12:41:49 AM

^Make sure to post your debut article when you write something. We need some more tdub representation on the technician. Finally we'll have some serious street cred with TWW Action News.

3/11/2010 1:12:07 AM

I thought about working for the Technician, then had a friend do it and saw how miserable his life quickly became

3/11/2010 1:14:14 AM

Quote :

"viewpoint staff"

Of course it's been a year or so since I seriously read a string of more than 1 issue here and there with interesting headlines.

3/11/2010 1:17:49 AM

liberal paper? really? i'd say it prints anything anyone submits, regardless of view. one day i see "abortion is murder" and the next a column called sexcapades.

Quote :

"They just need a Tdub section where they reprint threads in full. The NSFW threads would vastly improve interest in the paper"

ECU has an anonymous bitching column in their paper, we could just take TWW quotes at random and print them.

and we could make it mandatory that you have to post on TWW to get your comment in, so we would have more members

[Edited on March 11, 2010 at 1:20 AM. Reason : -]

3/11/2010 1:17:54 AM

There was an article written about me in it....well it was written about something and I was the person who was picked to be featured in it

3/11/2010 1:21:34 AM

I might be writing for them shortly if my talks with The Independent fall through...

Which is kind of a sad path to take.

3/11/2010 1:32:12 AM

To those who have written for them before somewhat recently, how much of a time commitment is this? I don't want to be up writing any kind of shit at ridiculous hours simply to try and fit all this in.

3/11/2010 1:43:24 AM

depends on how big of a commitment you want and what section you write for.

I, for instance, cover sports. I choose what I want to cover, occasionally a story is delegated out, but not often. I enjoy it, so long as media relations isn't a bitch to get in contact with...

But thats sports...

3/11/2010 1:46:20 AM

I was a guest columnist for viewpoint for a couple of years, only got printed maybe 3 or 4 times a year. Took me less than 15 minutes to write anything but it always came out pretty good imo.

this is my personal favorite:

http://www.technicianonline.com/viewpoint/campus-dining-not-kosher-1.1107088

3/11/2010 1:49:39 AM

we could be losing one of the greatest works of fiction known to man

3/11/2010 1:52:30 AM

Quote :

"AxlBonBach: I would have killed for the opportunity to work for the Technician in Undergrad."

Seriously!

I actually said I would write for them on here one day, and I got a nice PM about it. But I was all too shy and shit. Plus I'm a horrible writer. Now that I know that they have absolutely no standards, I'm gonna try to get in on this sweet deal.

Seriously though, I don't understand how the paper is going under. It's a free paper that's subsidized by the government. I mean, are they saying that they just don't have enough content to fill up a paper every day?

3/11/2010 2:05:39 AM

Quote :

"Seriously though, I don't understand how the paper is going under. It's a free paper that's subsidized by the government. I mean, are they saying that they just don't have enough content to fill up a paper every day?"

Yea, okay, it's free to run, but it's only free in the since that it's the budget the University gives them. If they can't even get enough people together to fill up the pages, then that budget is going to go towards other things. Plus, Print Media isn't exactly thriving anymore.

3/11/2010 2:10:40 AM

Surely someone wants "saved a school newspaper" on their resume.

3/11/2010 2:12:34 AM

^^^
it takes a lot more than raw content to make a newspaper

you have to edit it, arrange it, sell the ads to pay for it, print it, and distribute it around campus

however-many days a week

3/11/2010 2:12:56 AM

Ah, the ads! You have to sell ads!

Holy shit, that sucks.

So they need help like cold-calling businesses to sell ads and muscle to deliver it around campus and shit. If there is a golf cart involved, I would like to volunteer to deliver the paper on warm and pleasant mornings.

3/11/2010 2:17:55 AM

I don't know how to say this any other way girl.

They just want people to fucking write articles.

3/11/2010 2:23:04 AM

What are their length & other restrictions on articles, how does one submit one?

3/11/2010 2:27:47 AM

Quote :

"Seriously though, I don't understand how the paper is going under. It's a free paper that's subsidized by the government. I mean, are they saying that they just don't have enough content to fill up a paper every day?"

Quote :

"Ah, the ads! You have to sell ads!"

A good friend of mine used to be the guy who called up businesses to sell ad space. Turns out student fees don't make up that much of the Technician's budget.

3/11/2010 2:31:01 AM

I love The Technician. Mainly for the crosswords though. Also the Gaither articles, but he has since moved to greener pastures

3/11/2010 3:45:44 AM

Campus newspaper at an engineering school floundering? You don't say.

Why don't they merge with the nubian. Doesn't really make sense that they have a separate paper anyway.

3/11/2010 6:34:54 AM

the fact that there still is a nubian bewilders me

3/11/2010 6:42:31 AM

fuckin double post

[Edited on March 11, 2010 at 6:44 AM. Reason : fail]

3/11/2010 6:44:02 AM

So I'm procrastinating on a paper, and I looked into the Nubian...

Did y'all know it wasn't started until 1992? And it was largely in response to the Technician's reactionary bullshit...

http://www.technicianonline.com/nubian-message-serves-as-a-voice-for-african-american-students-1.1360863


And side note...I thought it was funny that Netstorm was talking about how sad it would be if he decided to write for the Technician like he was above it, but he simultaneously managed to make this blunder:

Quote :

"Netstorm: Yea, okay, it's free to run, but it's only free in the since that it's the budget the University gives them. If they can't even get enough people together to fill up the pages, then that budget is going to go towards other things. Plus, Print Media isn't exactly thriving anymore."

Then when I googled "Nubian Message" and clicked the first link, this introductory paragraph popped up on my screen:

Quote :

"Many college students struggle to figure out what they want to do with their lives after graduation. One local artist decided to take the road less traveled, and hasn’t looked back sense."

http://ncsu.edu/nubian/

If only these two could get together and edit!

3/11/2010 7:27:28 AM

Couple of you complaining that would wouldnt write cuz it sucks. Well I see that if you go in an offer to, right now you pretty much get to name your own terms. Make it better. Tell them to shut their mouths and if they dont like it, then you can walk out the door.

3/11/2010 7:54:47 AM

remember when the technician ran a piece proposing a new paper and copied the nubian's mission statement but reversed the races? what a shitstorm.

3/11/2010 7:58:18 AM

so it's not "the" technician

it's just technician

3/11/2010 8:00:12 AM

that's stupid, its the technician

3/11/2010 8:00:47 AM

let it die

3/11/2010 8:03:54 AM

people read the nubian message? what for?

3/11/2010 8:04:33 AM

Quote :

"I would have killed for the opportunity to work for the Technician in Undergrad. "

3/11/2010 8:08:01 AM

I wrote a multi-part adventure serial for Technician (with illustrations provided by a student artist!) a few years ago. I think I made $110.00 for it. I never picked up my check.

I did, however, go to a staff meeting or two, and that got me free tickets to a sneak preview of Kill Bill 2 for the purpose of reviewing it.

Then, I found $50.00 on the way home.

3/11/2010 8:17:41 AM