Best Newspaper (Public Universities)

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Best Newspaper (Public Universities)
This news just in: Florida Leader has filed an antitrust grievance against The Oracle newspaper at the University of South Florida and The Independent Florida Alligator at the University of Florida. Like Microsoft, these papers have become monopolies and are dominating the best campus newspaper category. Something must be done about this. Maybe the Justice Department can force the papers to break into separate units, giving some of the wealth of talent to their peers at the other eight state universities.
     We say it every year—The Oracle and The Alligator rank among the top student publications in the nation, not just in Florida. In fact, they’re better written than most local professional dailies. The Voyager, a weekly at the University of West Florida, has made major strides under Editor Tracy Shipp, but it truthfully can’t compete with its "big budget" brothers serving Florida’s two largest state universities.
     With that said, choosing between the UF and USF papers annually is Florida Leader’s toughest challenge of the year, next to picking the Florida College Student of the Year winners in April. We grille their editors about improvements they’ve made and exactly why they think they’re number one—making them quantify and qualify their claims.
     This year, both papers are markedly better, but The Alligator lunged ahead just enough to earn the crown, thanks to its all around professionalism, commitment to in-depth reporting, and influence on improving life for UF students. Not that The Oracle doesn’t make a difference, too. If we could, we’d given two meritorious achievement awards.
     "The Alligator is simply more ambitious than any other college paper in Florida, if not the nation," says Beth Kassab, editor. Florida Leader concurs with the confident boast of our 2000 champion, also the overall winner in 1999. "I have to say we stack up against the best in the country. That’s because The Alligator staff considers themselves to be journalists rather than ‘student journalists.’ We have surpassed the mindset of being a campus newspaper. We send reporters wherever news of interest to our readers occurs. Our reporters frequently spend their own money on gas, meals, and hotels, because they would rather soak up the experience of being where the news is rather than sit in the newsroom and work the phones for a story that barely scratches the surface of an issue. We had stories with datelines from Tampa and Miami. In the past year, we have sent reporters everywhere from Tallahassee to Seattle, at negligible cost to The Alligator."
     Kassab says The American Journalism Review ranked The Alligator as the most "linked to" college newspaper web site in the nation. The paper also produces the collegiate journalism world’s largest circulation at 35,000. As one of only three independent collegiate papers in the state and the only daily, Kassab says, "We value our independence as a role that allows us to take a journalistic approach unburdened by administrative pressures or conflicts."
     Kassab says The Alligator’s coverage of UF President John Lombardi’s resignation was the year’s most important story. "Lombardi’s influence over the university has been one of the most dominant and consistent forces in Gainesville for the past decade, accounting for its growth and increased national reputation," she says. "The Alligator’s documentation of that influence and the events that led up to Lombardi’s resignation have been a key part of The Alligator’s coverage.
     "Our coverage of the ongoing debate over bar and club closing times—the so- called ‘rave ordinance debate’—also has been particularly important," Kassab says (see "Best Student Activism" on page 33). "Because the vast majority of UF students rely on The Alligator, it has been our duty to inform them of this issue and encourage them to participate in the democratic process calling their city commissioners and attending city commission meetings. I believe that the large amount of student activism in that issue is, in many ways, attributed to the newspaper’s calls for action and strong stances on our editorial page."
     As further evidence of The Alligator’s influence, Kassab cites her paper’s reporting on the Greek system, more specifically the Delta Chi fraternity rape case. "As a result of the coverage, several reforms have been put into place and certainly a larger scrutiny has been placed upon the Greek system," she says. "We don’t practice advocacy journalism, but we do want to make a difference, and I think we do that on our campus. I am probably most proud of these stories that cause reaction."
     Kassab says the staff knows they’re doing their jobs unless they get too much positive feedback from the students and organizations they cover. "Then we must be doing something wrong," she says. "If we receive only negative feedback, however, we also must be doing something wrong. The top editors also receive quite a bit of direct reader feedback. Their e-mail addresses are listed on The Alligator’s web site, and people use them. Boy, do people use them."
     What’s The Alligator’s most popular section? Kassab says it’s undoubtedly sports. "Who in Gainesville doesn’t like to read about Gator sports?" she says. "Our sports department has scores of devoted readers, not only in Gainesville, but around the world. Our sports coverage of UF athletics, especially the football team, is on par with that of any publication or news outlet. No college newspaper in the country covers its university’s sport program as thoroughly as The Alligator."
     Despite the paper’s long and storied history and strong infrastructure, Kassab says there have been significant improvements this year, including the restructuring of the editorial staff. "Contrary to the opinion of some, The Alligator doesn’t have a surplus of staff members," Kassab says. "At the end of last semester, I sent letters to reporting students, personally inviting them to join the staff. Also, we advertised positions in the newspaper and offered an application on-line that students could download and e-mail. We made several good ‘hires’ (not that these people get paid). We now have a nearly full reporting staff and four experienced news editors.
     "Another dramatic change we have made is the addition of a more formalized editorial board," Kassab says. "We have five board members (including the managing editor, editorial page editor, and myself) who meet three times a week to debate editorial topics and decide our newspaper’s stance. One goal we have is to improve the quality of our editorial page by having a less predictable page, as far as look and editorial topic, and also to find a stronger, more authoritative editorial voice.
     "In past semesters, the editorial page editor was primarily responsible for editorial ideas and then writing the daily editorials. With five board members debating topics and writing editorials, the pieces are more thought out and better researched than before.
     To draw in new writers and make them feel like part of the team quickly, Kassab says she rid The Alligator of the "contributing writer." "I believe that anyone who wants to come into our newsroom and spend an afternoon or however long writing a story deserves the title of ‘Alligator writer,’" she says.
     Kassab admits that she and fellow staffers enjoy their friendly rivalry with The Oracle, as it inspires and encourages higher achievement. But she clearly views her paper as the undisputed leader. "A partially state-subsidized student newspaper claiming that they are at a disadvantage compared to a completely independent publication is perhaps a signal that what they’re doing could be done better," she says. "The fact that the best and largest newspapers in the Southeast U.S. come to The Alligator when they’re looking for interns or employees is indicative of the talent that The Alligator fosters. ‘Resources’ don’t breed this talent. Hard work does. If other college newspapers find themselves contending with staffing shortages, as we once did, then they simply must do a better job of attracting talented and dedicated reporters, as we have done this semester. Having a smaller than ideal staff is nothing to be proud of or bemoaned, it’s something that should be examined and addressed. We make no excuses or apologies for successfully recruiting and retaining a healthy sized staff.
     "As far as how the two newspapers compare financially, I’m not so sure you are comparing apples to oranges," Kassab says. "If you are comparing total revenues of both papers, then you must take into consideration that The Alligator funds itself completely, whereas The Oracle does not. Therefore, to survive, The Alligator must generate revenues considerably larger than The Oracle. I would argue that The Alligator generates more money, because it has more expenses. If you are comparing the newsroom budgets, our staff formulates its own budgets. A larger budget also means larger responsibility for our student editors. I don’t think the fact that we are successful in that area, however, is something that should be held against us.
     The powerful daily did experience a minor mutiny at the end of the fall semester when the choice for spring editor was announced by the paper’s board of directors. "Our sports staff was upset about the choice," Kassab admits. "The sports editor had run against me for the position. On the last day of the semester, the sports staff and photo staff didn’t come in. I really can’t explain why—I guess they liked him better." After meeting with some of the disgruntled staffers, Kassab drew these conclusions: "They felt like I’m too aggressive, too hard on staff, and set too high of expectations for staff. They felt I wasn’t doing it in the right way and that my management tactics were too abrasive. Looking back, I needed to be reminded of what it’s like to be new and inexperienced. The morale here is excellent today."

Runner-Up
     Florida Leader has a soft spot for its friends at The Oracle. We feel their pain—we feel understaffed and under-funded, but still, with all due humility, produce the best college magazine in the nation. Despite far less tradition, half the financial resources, staff, and circulation, and none of the independence that The Alligator enjoys, the aggressive and talented Oracle staff still gives the UF behemoth an annual run for its money. "We work with about 20 writers, editors, and photographers to produce what is often called ‘the miracle daily,’" says Joe Humphrey, editor in chief.
     "On a campus level, our editorial page wields tremendous influence," Humphrey says. "We believe so strongly in the necessity that we plan to expand the section to two pages. It’s the only forum on campus for our readers to express their views. We’re aggressive in our editorials not only on campus issues, but also on national issues. This is proven by our regular editorial appearance in University Wire."
     Humphrey says The Oracle, like any quality newspapers, get flack from all sides. "The conservatives write letters complaining that we are liberal, and the liberals complain we’re conservative," Humphrey says. "SG thinks we are anti-SG. Administrators think we are pro-SG. We’re neither. We’re just anti-bad-policy."
     Humphrey says The Oracle believes its opinions should be aggressive and its pages open to readers. "Poor opinions will be canceled by counter opinions," he says. "No newspaper should be reluctant to print an opinion that goes against its beliefs because only after our own thoughts are challenged can we learn another perspective."
     When SG tried to hike students’ activity and service fees to pay for a $48 million renovation to the student union, Humphrey says The Oracle waited for its readers to speak before taking a stance. "SG eventually ignored students’ outcry to not raise fees, and sent its expensive proposal to student affairs for approval," he says. "Then The Oracle condemned SG for neglecting its constituents and made a rare request for administrators to step in. They did."
     As further evidence of his paper’s influence on campus issues, Humphrey points to The Oracle’s reports on SG Senator Michael Gagne’s discovery that he had HIV. "Due to the involvement of our SG beat reporter, Gagne trusted that person enough to tell him about his discovery even before he announced it to the senate," Humphrey says. "That gave us time to prepare an in-depth article into HIV research and about Gagne’s own story. At first, his story was a medium to show the importance of being tested and behaving safely. But it evolved into more than that."
     Humphrey says the first article appeared just before the Tampa AIDS Network planned to offer free HIV testing on campus. "TAN was bombarded with people who wanted to be tested," Humphrey says. "They were so overwhelmed that they ran out of testing supplies and were forced to schedule additional testing days. Organizers had a record turnout for the event, which they said they had not expected to draw so much demand."
     The Oracle’s relationship with SG has always been adversarial, Humphrey says. "Our first relations with now-Student Body President Brett Chambers began when he decided to close meetings to the public while he was chairman of the legislative committee," he says. "The Oracle was quick to protest the closings. We filed a SG lawsuit alleging that Chambers had violated the constitution and statutes. After months of litigation, The Oracle won. When he failed to fight the Board of Regents for student representation on the Presidential Search Committee, we were quick to strike. We published the board chairman’s office phone number and asked students to do what Chambers failed to do."
     Humphrey, who also served as editor in chief in 1999, says the paper has improved markedly this year. "Most notably, we added a section—each week, we publish ‘Film Friday,’ a section of reviews and show times for our readers," he says. "We also expanded our ‘Opinion’ section to two full pages Monday through Thursday, allowing more space for readers’ thoughts. It has been the most popular addition, with the space filling up daily." He says The Oracle also will be focusing more coverage on USF’s West area, which houses the medical and engineering facilities.
     While not making excuses, Humphrey strongly points out that his paper produces a high-quality product that rivals any competitor. "We don’t have as many writers as our competitors, yet we produce a comparable, if not superior, product," he says. "Our reporting is strong, which is reflected in the depth of our articles. We told our readers we’d be the most comprehensive source for presidential search news, and we’ve lived up to the billing. Each of our candidates was profiled on the day they arrived in addition to the regular coverage. I’m also proud of our design and our willingness to take chances. The Alligator, our primary competition in the state, is also strong. But it’s important to note they have a much larger staff.
     "We were nominated for the Pacemaker Award by the Associated Collegiate Press, unlike powerhouses Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina," he says. "The Pacemaker recognizes the best overall newspapers in the country. And though we didn’t win (six of 12 nominees win the award), we were certainly proud of our achievement."

Honorable Mention
     At the University of West Florida, the Voyager, a weekly, is clearly "the best of the rest," beating The Beacon at Florida International University, The Famuan at Florida A&M University, and The Spinnaker at the University of North Florida. The Voyager certainly has made huge strides, much like the school’s Student Government Association and student affairs and activities departments. With a $58,000 annual budget, four editors, including Editor in Chief Tracy Shipp, produce a weekly with a 4,000 circulation.
     "We have made efforts to include everyone in the diverse university environment and produce a quality publication," Shipp says. "We changed to broad sheet and digital production this summer, redesigned our flag and overall layout, completely cleaned out our offices, concentrated on public relations, and began intensive recruitment on campus."
     Shipp admits that her paper’s definition of hard news is a bit different than the UFs and USFs of the publishing world. "We have had great response concerning our ‘Campus Cats Missing’ story," she says. "We’re lucky that this is what is considered hard news on our campus. Rumors were running wild, and our coverage helped set the record straight about the disappearance of virtual campus mascots."
     After that catastrophe of a story, Shipp says the SGA grading policy stories come in a close second in importance. "SGA was moving to change our grading policy," she says. "We gave this event good overage, but made a couple of mistakes in the article due to the reporter’s dad dying. We promptly addressed these, ran a retraction, a follow-up story, and stayed close to SGA."
     The Voyager’s "Crime and Punishment," the weekly police beat section, seems to be a reader favorite. "The Voyager has come from rag status to a real college paper in one semester," Shipp says. "It’s phenomenal how attitudes toward The Voyager have changed throughout the campus community. Last year, the campus looked down on The Voyager with its misspellings and biased stories. The paper didn’t concentrate on what was important to all of the campus community. No efforts were made to communicate with the campus regularly. We set goals this year that included being more professional and diverse. We assign beats to our reporters, check our facts, and strive for balance reporting."
     And Shipp says a foundation is being laid for editorial consistency for years to come. "Our new advisory board has helped us focus on the future. We have a new recruitment program that will begin with a journalism conference in March for area high school students," she says. "For the first time ever, The Voyager is working with the Communication Arts department to strengthen our print journalism program. We’re also continuously receiving training and researching other newspaper to improve our design and content. We have received numerous calls from faculty, administration, and students thanking us for reviving the campus paper."

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