We covered sports teams making the playoffs, countless plays and concerts and art shows. We shot telling photos to document the construction of the parking garage, teach-ins, and all the various people who make up this diverse university.
This year, The Free Press has opened its doors even more to the University community by offering columns to interested parties. The columns have been well-written and informative.
Our Student Senate election coverage improved this year by including profiles of the candidates.
Most recently, we had a cover story that included some of the best enterprise reporting by The Free Press in several years.
The Free Press wins awards in national college newspaper competitions.
The Free Press is the only real journalism training available on campus. There is no degree, no journalism program at USM. There is no department to feed us writers. Out of a school of 11,000 we have a difficult time filling our executive board, let alone recruiting additional writers. Believe me, we try constantly, but it is an ongoing battle.
When one of my reporters tells me than an administration member refuses to answer her questions because she is afraid of being misquoted, I am appalled. First, it shows complete disrespect for the newspaper and our hardworking staff, and it also exhibits the sense that we are not an asset to the University nor a recognized news organization.
My staff and I have spoken in front of groups, including the Student Senate and the Student Communications Board, to explain how our newspaper works, the role of the adviser, and how groups and individuals can communicate with The Free Press.
This is a lot of effort we expended, particularly considering that each week each editor probably worked a good 20 hours a week on the basic functions of reporting, writing, editing, and production of the newspaper. Some weeks my hours double that amount. This is on top of our classes, nearly non-existent personal lives, and any regular jobs we hold to pay the bills.
And despite the efforts to explain ourselves, respected members of the University community still believe The Free Press should be a university newsletter, a mouthpiece for pro-university propaganda, or an uncaring crapfest out to solely pat ourselves on the back for writing a bunch of garbage no one cares about.
On the contrary, The Free Press has covered many important stories that directly affect students, faculty, staff, and community members.
With our short staff and big hearts we can only cover so much. We do the best we can and that is all anyone can really ask. Also, we are only learning. We have no training. There is almost none to be had at this University, so the experience at The Free Press is it. Our advisory board teems with local talent and interested faculty and staff, and we learn how to write headlines and how to dig and how to look up documents at the courthouse.
The Free Press is a vital part of the University of Southern Maine experience. We strive to get the real story, often scooping the Portland Press Herald. We get the student angle, or the University angle on stories affecting us all, such as Sept. 11, the war in Iraq, and local government elections.
Some of the stories have been informational about the basic student condition.
“Campus labs incur four-cent fee” (Sept. 23)
“Sex offenders to register with USM” (Nov. 11)
And, of course, there were countless parking stories to educate the masses.
We covered local events with a USM angle.
“WMPG hosts worldwide Homelessness Marathon” (Feb. 10)
“Professors, students arrested for civil disobedience” (April 7)
We did a three-part series on the gubernatorial candidates, asking them questions that are important to USM students.
We covered world events with a USM angle.
“‘Sapphire’ worm cripples Internet worldwide” (Jan. 27)
“USM professor in Iraq on fact-finding mission” (Jan. 13)
And, unfortunately, we compassionately covered the deaths of members of our community and school.
“26-year Aramark employee dies at 46” (Sept. 23)
“Student dies in suspected drug overdose” (April 7)
“Alumnus dies in war” (April 7)
“Freshman dies in car accident” (April 14)
The thing is, though, when people chastise us or say we have “secret missions” or the like, I am obligated to print it. And I enjoy doing so. I think the newspaper is one of the few institutions that gladly admits mistakes and prints corrections, in addition to printing every angry letter that comes down the pike. It shows someone is reading the paper. Besides, our goal is to be unbiased and unslanted.
We write stories about our own financial problems. We write stories about our adviser’s resignation. No one is safe from us exposing their truths, even us.
We love suggestions and tips, but don’t tell us what to write. You cannot expect to speak at a public meeting and then demand not to see those words in the paper. If your words are embarrassing to you, it is not necessarily that you have been misquoted. Any newspaper would laugh at that implication. We are not on a high horse here, however. We have enough typos and fubars to humble ourselves quite well.