Attention N.C. State students: your days of secretly playing Sudoku during class, catching up on last night’s basketball game and laughing at the unintentional humor of the campus police blotter could be coming to and end, very soon.
After 90 years of publication, N.C. State’s daily student newspaper, Technician, is on the verge of shutting its doors indefinitely.
According to Technician’s Viewpoint on Wednesday, the student newspaper failed to hire a new editor-in-chief at Tuesday’s meeting of the Student Media Board of Directors, after losing its editor earlier this year, due to a “policy dispute.”
The student newspaper has been left without leadership, and is in danger of shutting down completely within a matter of weeks.
The writers at Technician are not shy about their current struggles. The editorial noted, “Today’s paper was only in the stand because of what the staff would describe as a printing miracle.”
Chris Cioffi, a junior majoring in Language, Writing, and Rhetoric, and a DJ for WKNC – the University’s student-run radio station — said the paper’s problems lie in a lack of interest in leadership positions.
“Basically no one wanted to be editor,” he said. “It’s a huge time commitment, and since N.C. State doesn’t have a journalism school, the interest just isn’t there.”
Brian Grossman, who earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from N.C. State and is a former Deputy Sports Editor of Technician, agreed with Cioffi that a major issues arise in the paper when the editors often find themselves short-staffed, which leads to burnout and a high turnover rate with writers.
“The work load and time commitment can become unbearable when there aren’t enough people on the staff,” he said, “Once they get caught in the spiral of hemorrhaging staff, the work gets harder and harder for those left, which only leads to more staff quitting.”
Cioffi said he believes having a student newspaper is crucial to the University and campus life. He also mentioned that the idea of a large university that does not have a student newspaper is made even more unsettlingly by the success of UNC’s student paper, The Daily Tarheel, which is considered to be one of the best student papers in the country.
“We can’t not have a paper. It would be a bit embarrassing,” he said. “We’re a major university, and we can’t even put out four pages a day?”
The newspaper’s editorial board is asking current students to get involved with the daily production of the paper, regardless of their age or experience level. Any students, from freshman to graduate students, are welcome. The staff is comprised of students from all disciplines and concentrations.
Grossman, who wrote for Technician throughout his undergraduate and graduate years at N.C. State, said he believes writing for Technician has made him the writer he is today. He recommends joining the writing staff to any students who are looking to become more acquainted with the field of journalism.
“If you want to write for a living – whether or not you want to write for a newspaper – the only way to get better is to keep writing,” he said. “Technician is one of the best outlets for that.”
Grossman also noted that the newspaper is not only looking for writers to add to their staff, but photographers, designers, copy editors and advertisement salespeople.
“You can do a hundred other things besides write,” he said. “It’s fun; it’s hectic; and it’s hard, but rewarding work.”
Despite the grim outlook of the paper’s future, Cioffi remains hopeful.
“It’s definitely a tough time for Technician right now, but I don’t think it’s the end of the paper,” he said. “Someone will step up and fill the void.”
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Not a student, but still want to support Technician or speak your mind on the issue?
According to the blog of former Technician Editor-in-Chief, Tyler Dukes, there are a couple of ways to help: (http://www.writethirty.com)
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