Iowa State Daily

[ISUCyclones2015]

Has anyone noticed how downhill the paper has gone? I read it almost every day and it seems it gets worse every year, particularly this school year. It wasn't amazing by any means any of the four years I've been here but there definitely has been a decline in quality. I'm not even talking about the cutting of "Just Sayin'", that is a whole different topic.

Anyone else agree?

 

[Fitzy]

As a journalism major, yes. I agree it has overall. The Just Sayin' needs to be brought back.

I think the sports writing has been better than the general interest/opinion portions. They've done some nice features on the basketball and football teams during the past couple years.

 

[VeloClone]

The slide all started when they went from a tabloid size to a full size paper; much more difficult to surreptitiously read it in class.

 

[3TrueFans]

Toons > Daily

 

[CYlent Bob]

I remember Toons started while I was in Ames. Good to see they're still going strong. I wish That Place/Top Of The Town was still going.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

As a journalism major, yes. I agree it has overall. The Just Sayin' needs to be brought back.

I think the sports writing has been better than the general interest/opinion portions. They've done some nice features on the basketball and football teams during the past couple years.

The basketball features have been impressive. But I feel like they worked on those for months and months to get to that quality.

 

[cloneu]

I felt the same way during my time at Iowa State. Early on (2004ish) I liked reading the whole thing but by the end of college (2007) the only thing I would read is sports. Maybe between 18 & 22 you just grow to expect more than what a college paper can offer.

 

[GTO]

I remember Toons started while I was in Ames. Good to see they're still going strong. I wish That Place/Top Of The Town was still going.

You must have been there around the same time I was. I remember when Toons got started.

 

[DeereClone]

I am not in school so I can't speak for the quality, but the consumer's taste for journalism is changing.

No one wants to read a full page article in a newspaper 2-4 days after an event happened. They want to read a quick twitter update with the most important info and have that followed up by a 2-4 paragraph blog/story that tells them everything they need to know.

The writing may be going down in quality, IDK because I am not there reading it, but our taste for journalism is changing and that is probably have a huge impact on your/our perception of the quality of a newspaper.

 

[Fitzy]

The basketball features have been impressive. But I feel like they worked on those for months and months to get to that quality.

I'm sure it took awhile, but you have to keep in mind that the Daily reporters are essentially trying to do much the same of what real reporters do... Except most if not all of the Daily's staff are full time students that don't have all day to craft their stories.

 

[CYlent Bob]

Back in 1986 I thought the Daily was pretty amateurish.

In 1991 I thought it had deteriorated pretty badly.

Now, I look back at that '86 Daily and it's the Washington Post compared to the 2015 Daily.

NOW GET OFF MEH LAWN!

 

[CYlent Bob]

You must have been there around the same time I was. I remember when Toons got started.

When did you graduate Goat?

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

I'm sure it took awhile, but you have to keep in mind that the Daily reporters are essentially trying to do much the same of what real reporters do... Except most if not all of the Daily's staff are full time students that don't have all day to craft their stories.

Oh for sure. I don't expect a ton out of a college newspaper anyway, at least compared to a professional paper. But what happened in the last few years where it has gone downhill? Is there a new manager? A new advisor? A different professor helping them out? Something changed.

 

[Fitzy]

Oh for sure. I don't expect a ton out of a college newspaper anyway, at least compared to a professional paper. But what happened in the last few years where it has gone downhill? Is there a new manager? A new advisor? A different professor helping them out? Something changed.

I've never worked for the Daily so I can't answer with certainty, but obviously they have quite a bit of turnover with students graduating every year and leaving for jobs that actually pay a higher rate than bread scraps.

 

[RING4CY]

I'm glad the Daily got rid of the Just Sayin's. It allowed people to submit things to the paper without the accountability of putting your name to it. If you submit a letter to the editor, it won't get considered to be published unless a person signs his or her name to it.

You have to remember it's a student newspaper. These are students running it. And you don't have to be a journalism major to work for the paper. These students are learning. It's not always going to be professional quality.

 

[GTO]

When did you graduate Goat?

2000

 

[Fitzy]

I'm glad the Daily got rid of the Just Sayin's. It allowed people to submit things to the paper without the accountability of putting your name to it. If you submit a letter to the editor, it won't get considered to be published unless a person signs his or her name to it.

You have to remember it's a student newspaper. These are students running it. And you don't have to be a journalism major to work for the paper. These students are learning. It's not always going to be professional quality.

Yep. The Daily comes around to every journalism class at the beginning of the year and says they're a good way to LEARN to report. They don't just hire people who are already good reporters... They hire anyone who wants to learn to become a reporter (or any other position associated with a newspaper).

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

Yep. The Daily comes around to every journalism class at the beginning of the year and says they're a good way to LEARN to report. They don't just hire people who are already good reporters... They hire anyone who wants to learn to become a reporter (or any other position associated with a newspaper).

Hmmm I guess I thought there would be more interest and you would have to apply to get a spot. But maybe I overestimated how much interest there is. I guess I assumed because we have several other publications like Sir, Trend, Ethos, Uhuru etc. Maybe we should combine some of these publications/teams/budgets and create a better newspaper and have these extras be weekly sections like local papers do.

 

[Fitzy]

Hmmm I guess I thought there would be more interest and you would have to apply to get a spot. But maybe I overestimated how much interest there is. I guess I assumed because we have several other publications like Sir, Trend, Ethos, Uhuru etc. Maybe we should combine some of these publications/teams/budgets and create a better newspaper and have these extras be weekly sections like local papers do.

That might be logical if the goal was like a real business, but the publications exist for students to gain experience... Not to provide the consumer with perfect publications.

The Daily requires anyone interested to apply, but I'm pretty sure the acceptance rate is extremely high. If you want to write, they'll make a spot for you.

 

[CYlent Bob]

2000

Dude, I remember seeing Toons on campus in '88 or '89.