The partnership between the University of Central Florida's student readership program and the Orlando newspaper, the Orlando Sentinel has come to end...for now.
Our university's Student Government Association refused to continue business after the Sentinel increased the prices of the paper by 23 cents. SGA president Logan Berkowits said that he "wouldn't allow students to be forced to pay extra."
This is a good example of the types of things newspapers across the nation are dealing with. In a world of buyouts, job cuts and shut-downs, it's uncertain what the history of newspapers will be. Advertising sales are just not where they used to be, forcing newspapers to make tough decisions about circulation, which in turn affects overall readership of newspapers.
So it's understandable why the Sentinel would look to generate a little more revenue from the SGA partnership, but on the other hand students lose. We lose if we increase the prices of the Sentinel on campus, and we lose if don't have the papers on campus. Journalism, business and political science students use the Sentinel for class assignments.
Although newspapers may not completely go away, the industry has and will continue to change drastically. The Internet has played a key role in these changes, serving as a faster and possibly more comprehensive alternative to gather information.
Although the Sentinel, like other newspapers, is going through changes, it shouldn't neglect the students that so actively support it. Advanced reporting student at UCF write articles and contribute to newspaper through U-News, a section of the Sentinel written and edited by students. The relationship with UCF and the Sentinel is ongoing through jobs and internships.
Students can easily pay the 75 cents for the Sentinel on regular newsstands, but going through the 'extra trouble' may discourage some students to simply not bother if they don't have to.
Either way, both the Sentinel and SGA say they hope to come to an agreement. Sentinel spokesperson Lisa Jacobsen said: "They've been in discussion for some time now, and we definitely hope to bring it back if we can come to an agreement on the price."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I don't know if it's so easy for students to spend 75 cents a day for a newspaper. I actually WANT to read the paper, but I don't want to spend that much every day for it. What about students who just grabbed it because it was there?
I totally agree with the paper's reasoning for raising prices, and I think it makes sense for them to charge at least as much as USA Today.
My annoyance is with the Student Government, because I think they should have paid the new price. It's the student fees that pay for these papers, but they didn't check with the students before they removed the Sentinel from campus. Something about that just doesn't seem right.
Post a Comment